Biggest scam you didn’t know was a scam

[Sillysausage2]

Lighthearted 😂
I saw an Instagram post earlier about the biggest thing you don’t realise is a scam and we all accept as normal.
We all have stories about how our parents raised 7 kids etc in a 3 bed if they were lucky, my grandparents had 9 in a 2 bed 😂
the aim for everyone now is buying or building massive houses, 3 en suites at least, we spend the weekends in Ikea, home bargain etc buying shit we don’t need and cleaning the houses with the 4 bathrooms!
I swear I’ve spent more Time cleaning the legs of chairs than is reasonable and I seem to wash the walls of my bathroom far more than people ever mentioned.
I don’t remember my mother ever cleaning the panelling on the walls.
is it all a scam? Are we busy fools?
sometimes I got to centre Parcs like places and think how simple my life would be if we al only had one suitcase each

Small-time scam: fabric softener. Not needed, doesn’t do anything.

Big-time scam: paying to exercise. Yonks ago before we had such sedentary lives we did physical jobs to earn a crust. Now many of us sit at a desk all day and pay someone to facilitate us keeping fit and strong.

I meant to add to this post regarding the scam topic. I should have said Imo it's a scam when people believe the bigger & more prestigious the house the happier you will be. This in turn makes people strive for something that in the bigger picture doesn't make people happier therefore to my mind that's a scam 😁

Don't diminish the struggles of your forbears by minimising poverty and the constant stress, mental health and physical hardship that went with food insecurity, cold homes, lack of modern medicine and technology and no free healthcare.

You were happy because your care-givers didn't burden you with their worries, but it's not all "mmmm bread and dripping: delicious!" and "knees up muvver Brown".

I do question myself every time I spray multi-purpose cleaner. My granny still uses a wet cloth. What happened in the last 20 years that made us think a bit of water wasn't good enough for dusting?

Going to hairdressers to blow dry hair.What an expensive faff to look naff.

You are so right! I moved from a large 5 bed house to a 3 bed flat when my husband died, and I love it. Getting rid of my excess cr*p when I moved was cathartic. (That said, I would have all the crap again if I could have my husband back).
I keep it clean in that I dust every now and again, and vacuum (🤣) once in a blue moon. I do have a thing about clean and hygienic bathrooms though, so I am still fastidious with those.

None of the things you listed are essential. Swimming lessons... What's wrong with you teaching your kids how to swim? I was taught by my grandfather. No pool lessons needed. I mean, I don't believe for a second it's an essential life skill but whatever.
School uniforms are another scam, as far as I am concerned. Not clear at all why we need them. I didn't have it in my school.
Christmases wouldn't cost any more for a child specifically than it would for an adult. Unless you feel compelled to provide a mountain of gifts instead of one.
As for uni, I encourage my teen to go to work after A levels and take time to think about what she wants to study. After 25, she is no longer tied to our income and can't take on a full maintenance loan. Plus, she would get more out of her education as a mature student. She also doesn't need to drive just yet. We live somewhere with a relatively functional public transport system and she can use my bicycle to get places. Almost nobody in my family has a license and they manage surprisingly well. I didn't have one till I turned 38. I guess it's another "essential life skill" which is, surprisingly, not essential. Or she can always pass her CBT and get a scooter if a bike isn't good enough. Something I did when I was at uni (as a mature student, aha).

Yes, it's a scam. We have more machinery to do work in the house so our standards are higher (well, mine aren't, don't mind a bit of dust and nor did late DH). It's also the double shift, the unpaid, invisible work women do that keeps the capitalist machine working. We should stop doing it.

I don't think the NHS is ever described or expected to be free? Anyone who thinks it is is hard of thinking, not scammed.

Stop what, exactly?

That's not a scam. Do you want to be down a mine or living in a big house as a scullery maid?

but that's not a scam, that's a silly belief.

Golly, your experience is different to mine then.

you must associate with ummmmm.......challenged people 😀

@SwanFlight Pharmaceutical scam - that’s a very good point.

Certain prescription drugs certainly have their place and have transformed our health and wellbeing incredibly but, and maybe it’s our own fault, everyone wants a quick fix pill rather than taking responsibility for their own health - and many doctors are happy to oblige as it’s of financial benefit to their practice to get us all on as much as possible. Statins and diabetes tablets are a prime example.

My MIL could have controlled her own diabetes by moderation, but she had a very sweet tooth and preferred to take Metformin instead. She was also told by the hospital physio that much of her pain would be released by gentle exercise, keeping herself mobile and losing some weight. Again, she preferred to just rely on prescribed pain killers. If she was reflective of some that needed advice and plain facts rather than doling out tablets, no wonder the NHS is the costly behemoth it’s become.

If you want to see what pharmaceutical scamming on a major and unscrupulous scale looks like, watch Painkiller on Netflix about the over prescription and deliberate pushing by US doctors of OxyContin. Truly frightening.

Indeed, usually ones in the NHS.

So sorry to read this. I can't even begin to comprehend how hard that is but your story is inspiring for those who may go through this at some point. There is something very comforting about flat life as you get older & circumstances change. I love it too 😍

I had my hair professionally blow-dried once because it only cost an extra £3. It looked great, but I have thick, frizzy hair and my new style didn’t survive the 15 minute walk home. So sod that.

I used to work in the NHS. Never met anyone who believed the service was free.

I agree. We have a house just enough big enough for our family of four with only one bathroom/ toilet (which is a massive no no according to mn but we’ve never had an issue with it!).

We bought Ikea furniture when we bought the house and have only replaced when essential. We still have the same bed frame we bought nearly 20 years ago and the sofa is 10 years old, but they still function perfectly well!

We only decorate when the place is looking very tired too, approx every 10 years or so.

We are happy and content with life!

We’d rather spend our money on other things; we had a fantastic holiday last year which we saved up for and we made the most of every experience on offer, with no expense spared. I’ve seen people ask how people afford these holidays and the replies are often ‘with a credit card’ but this is not always the case - we just have different priorities.

I agree a lot of it is to due to fashion and trends, and people caring about what other people think.

The constant cleaning some people do isn’t essential either; I’ve never cleaned a table leg!

I also agree with weddings; we had a small one and used the money we could have spent on ours as a house deposit.

What countries don’t charge tax?

completely agree!! I have two kids at uni - one about to graduate in a degree that's all but useless unless she has an enormous amount of luck bestowed on her! The other is at least doing a degree that is well regarded from a top uni which means he should be very employable at the end.
Idk why the govt want everyone to go to uni - it completely devalues the degree, then you need a Masters or Phd or be very lucky/tenancious to succeed.

Agree , the word scam is being used in the wrong context. Things that don't matter that people said did may be better or lies we've been told. Not a scam. A scam is conning little old ladies out of their life savings.

Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, the United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, Brunei, Bahrain, the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Monaco, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Somalia, and Western Sahara.17 countries out of the entire world. Several not democracies and funded by vast oil wealth. Others funded by being offshore investment havens.

Anything that leads you to believe something is true that's isn't true is if not a scam it's scam beliefs.