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29 Scams That Are So Normalized That We Don’t Realize We’re Being Tricked
Article created by: Denis Krotovas
Some things are so normal in our society that we don’t even think about it, just accept it the way it is. But the minute you start thinking about it, you realize how questionable it is. And that if people wouldn’t have normalized such a thing, we definitely would understand it to be a scam.
Today, let’s take a look at some money-related things that would be considered scams if society hadn’t normalized them.
More info: Reddit
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#1
Healthcare not including dental and vision
Lee Coleman 9 months ago
Not a scam. These are historically different areas. But eye care isn't healthcare. Neither is dental care. They can all affect the others, But this would be like saying exercise is healthcare so gyms must have a doctor on staff. Or restaurants is healthcare so all eateries must have a doctor on staff.
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#3
Tipping
Doug Mason 9 months ago
Tipping isn't a scam. The scam is a system that allows employers to make their customers pay their employees salaries. Until that is fixed, tip your waiters people!
#4
Subscription services in vehicles. Pay monthly/yearly for heated seats or to unlock performance mode. I don't get how people support this business practice.
James mckenna 9 months ago
Ignorant pride. One of those I can afford it so I'm better than you
#5
I have to pay a 3% convenience fee to pay my rent online… I literally have to pay to pay my rent, it’s disgraceful.
#7
buying schoolbooks. publishers know you have literally no choice but to buy it and jack up the price in many cases. And some teachers get a cut on those sales which is insanely scummy but somehow tolerated in many schools.
I’ve had classes where you had to pay 150$ for a book we didn’t even use once during the class, but you literally couldn’t do any of the online evaluations unless you bought it. It’s just a way for some company to make an easy 500-600 dollars or more off the back of students.
#9
Hospitals taking additional fees on so you have to constantly ask them to itemize it so they remove the bogus add one
#11
The lottery
Almost all other forms of gambling at least give you a reasonable chance of winning something. The lottery is straight up robbing the stupid
#12
Light bulbs. Apparently when first invented they lasted too long and so manufacturers had to reduce their longevity to make them commercially viable. Scam.
#13
Insurance. You give them money month after month, year after year, and then when it comes time where you need to use it they will try their absolute hardest to give you as little as possible
#15
Landlords buy up property they don’t need so they can sell it back at an extreme markup as rent to people who actually do need it. With almost any other commodity it would be called scalping, and be regarded as the scam that it is, but with a commodity so material we literally call it “real estate”, we just act like this is how things are supposed to be.
#16
Charging subscription fees to access software on hardware you already own.
"*Our customers pay for our over priced goods, but they appear to still have money. How can we make them buy the product every month without us having to pay to make or ship any new materials*!?"
#18
Organized religion
#24
Every type of monthly bill going up year-on-year above inflation unless you change providers every year.
#26
Voting. We don't pick them they pick us. They draw the lines to better the chances for they're demographic. Gerrymandering it's a thing
#29
>I'll start: paying for water
You're not paying for water, per se. You're paying for *treated* water. Tap water is filtered, purified, and tested. Bottled water is ... bottled. Either way, some work has been done to it, and that is the value-added portion of the water which you're paying for.
You are welcome to go down to the lake and drink out of it for free. Good luck with that, by the way.
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