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this post was submitted on 20 Jun 2024
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this is unfair exploitation of mental illness.
Mike Lindell is an American hero with a story of success, making a great pillow everyone loved and making himself wealthy in the process
his religious delusions are a form of either mental illness or partial handicap and he shouldn't be stripped of everything because of that
his belief that the election was rigged AND he had the secret proof (that would hold up to court scrutiny) was clearly a religious delusion and if you think otherwise you don't understand how cults and mental illnesses intertwine
in a just world, this deal should be something he doesn't have to honor because he offered this "prove me wrong" thing to the public when he was clearly out of it
what about all the people he employed? the people he made happy with a decent pillow? we as a society have failed by allowing the religiously delusional to enter into any sort of unusual contracts at all. yes, the amish should be allowed to sell grain and the menonites should be allowed to sell delicious jams, but should we really allow right wing religious maniacs to enter into complex contracts?
no, of course not
this man should be given ALL his money back, and an apology from society for exploiting him. this man worked hard in life and doesn't deserve this
I mean, the options seem to be "this man is mentally ill, he needs to enter adult conservatorship" or "this man is an adult, who made a contract, and is being held to a contract"
He doesnt seem to be so far gone he needs a conservator, so his contracts are valid.
there needs to be some sort of space between "this person needs a conservator and can't have any rights" and "this is a logical rational person who can contractually give away 5 million dollars because he's filled with religious delusions"
It sucks, but there is a lot of precedent in the US for "you are allowed to be as stupid with your money as you want, as long as you're sane."
He may have delusions around his religion or beliefs, but he has the rights to have those delusions and beliefs, and if he wants to place bets on his beliefs because he holds them that strongly then he can. If someone else spots him as a mark and takes advantage of him, sure it was dumb of him, and they may not be in the cleanest moral area, but that's America, learn your lesson and move on.
You go to New York and some guy sells you a newspaper that helps raise money for charity and the homeless for $5 and you believe him then find out it's a free paper all over the city, that's life.
We can protect you when you don't know any better, but when you bet everyone in the room that you can fly and you can't? That's a hard bet to make buddy, and a harder bill to pay.
The reality is he is an older American and 5 million dollars is a lot, it's not a 5 dollar bill. This is exploitation and society is only allowing it because he's a right wing religious idiot.
The guy held a contest for $5M. Why are you defending him for not paying out? He is supposed to be credible, no?
No one of even mild to low intelligence thinks Mike Lindell is a credible person.
This is a person who had a positive attitude and made a lot of money making pillows, then got older. He is religious and religion and aging affected his brain, especially because he's clearly not that bright to begin with as evidenced by his religious beliefs. Plenty of people do well in society without being that intelligent because they have a positive attitude.
Stripping this person of 5 million dollars is a form of laissez-faire elder abuse wrapped in the artifice of polite society and it's blatantly vile.
Just because he's a disgusting right-wing religious idiot doesn't mean that elder abuse is acceptable, and intelligent people in society should have the decency to prevent this sort of thing from happening.
Mmmm except whatever shibboleths you may utter against "right-wing religious idiots", comments like yours help those idiots and others like them by giving them a sort of 'cognitive plausible deniability' to get up to whatever evil shit they've been getting up to and worse.
Like it's so obviously minimizing real evil - the evil UNDERNEATH shit like this 'innocent little contest', genius - under a shield of "d'aww shucks those pesky white nationalists are up to their hijinx again, those silly knuckleheads".
So in that context, you talking about 'disgusting right-wing idiots' comes off as a real fellowkids moment for you.
i hate to say it, but this is a really good response
it's true that a lot of these right-wing religious people are awful people. i just wish that we lived in a better world in which people would never vote for idiots like this and there would be financial protection for people as they aged and became less intelligent, but not incapable of managing all aspects of their lives
ask yourself this: if a random person mike lindell's age offered 5 million dollars if someone could prove the earth isn't flat, would someone ever be allowed to collect that in court?
but perhaps i am living in a fantasy world by seeing these people as less pernicious than they are, and your point is taken that he is part of a white-nationalist movement that is scary and evil, and perhaps i should be glad when anything slows it down or stops it from spreading instead of nit-picking over the logistics of such. i do think religion and racism are both a sort of cognitive infection that afflict the stupid, and it's not entirely their fault for being stupid and susceptible to infection. as much as i hate racism and right-wing people, this really feels exploitative to me, even if Mike Lindell is infected
Let historians unpack their intentions, I say. And deal with their actions now, while they're action-y and actively harming everyone and everything.
Have a good night.
If someone who was known to be relatively rich held a competition, where he repeatedly made the claim, and said anyone who could prove him wrong would be paid, set requirements "you have to pay to come to my event to make a claim", and then advertised that fact, then yes, i think that person would have an appropriate claim.
At some point, 'you' have to take responsibility for your actions. If I a bet online, and lost, I would expect to have to pay.
you really just keep rattling on about religion and religious beliefs don't you, you seem to almost carry the same behaviorisms that you apply to lindell.
I genuinely can't tell if the downvotes are because people think you're serious, or because people think you're joking, or because people can't tell if you're serious or joking.
Its hard to tell sometimes because I have seen diatribes almost exactly like that, but completely serious.
Given his follow-up responses he seems to generally believe what he said (or at least upholding the joke?). I mean I kinda get the notion that we shouldn't take advantage of people, but Mike made the competition himself. The guy asking to be paid isn't taking advantage, he's asking for what Mike promised him.