1st Podcast episode

In the first episode of With Sinister Intent, host Nick Bernsdorf exposes deceit, trickery, and immoral behavior like scams by Jim Jones, Bernie Madoff, and Enron. He shares personal experiences of scams, defines "sinister," and emphasizes the importance of critical thinking and due diligence to avoid falling victim to evildoers. Bernsdorf warns against false validations, discusses Bernie Madoff's smooth deception, and Jim Jones's manipulative tactics leading to the tragic Jonestown mass suicide. The podcast aims to create awareness and develop healthy paranoia to protect oneself from deceitful individuals in society. Bernsdorf stresses the significance of critical thinking in combating deceivers and ending with a preview of the next episode on propaganda. Welcome to this first episode of With Sinister Intent. I'm your host, Nick Bernsdorf, and each Saturday I expose all forms of deceit, trickery, and immoral or sinister behavior that may affect you and your family. For example, Jim Jones, Bernie Madoff, and the Enron Company, everyday scam artists, are always at work 24-7 trying to trick Americans into giving away their money, their vote, their economic security, their free will, and sometimes even their lives. My parents lost their entire life savings to con men in the Ponzi scheme many years ago, and I've been scammed a few times in my life as well. So now, let's go down a little bit and I'll tell you why I created a show called With Sinister Intent. Now, what does the word sinister actually mean? Let's start with that word sinister. So a dictionary definition of the word sinister means an entity or person causing or intending to cause harm, basically evil behavior of some sort. But in this podcast, I will define what the word sinister or evil means to me, and at some point, I'll give you a chance to chime in for yourself to give me your own opinion if you think I'm right or not. Now, aside from tragedy and what happened to my parents, I created this podcast also because as a 67-year-old American, I noticed that evildoers are now in every nook and cranny in our society, much more so than in my youth. And it's often tough to distinguish grown men from the good guys, since they deliberately have to hide their true intentions. You can think of this podcast as a variation of the former TV show American Greed, but I cover more areas of sinister behavior than just natural crimes and possession. And more importantly, I'll show you how, through critical thinking techniques, you can be onto deceivers before they entrap you. Gamers like Bernie Madoff are in the news often. These people are always on the prowl, looking to enrich themselves at your expense by ensnaring the next victim. Many organizations are sinister as well. Just watch American Greed reruns. Now, let me give you some history on a personal level. Many years ago, my parents invested their life savings in what turned out to be a fake investment firm in Florida, Ponzi scheme. So, like I said, they lost their entire life savings. They didn't ask any questions or do any due diligence. That event was another inspiration for the show because due diligence is what would have prevented their loss. So, I just felt like I had to do something, no matter how small, to try and expose evil people and organizations who just think of people as opportunities to enrich themselves. Like the company who ripped off my parents. So, what does the term due diligence mean? Due diligence is part of the critical thinking process. It's a way of investigating and verifying information about a company, a person, or an investment opportunity to make sure it's legitimate, not a con. Yeah, it does take some time, but it will protect you and get you into the practice of thinking critically, which like I briefly mentioned, is the kind of thinking in which you question, analyze, evaluate, and make a final judgment about what you read and hear so you're reasonably sure that you are not being lied to or ripped off. Now, due to the evolving nature of evil, I won't be able to cover all cases of deceit and fraud, but I'll teach you the basics of what to look for so you at least have some tools to protect yourself, your money, and your family from disasters, financial and otherwise. Now, let's get started and I'll examine two individuals I'm sure you're familiar with who have ruined hundreds of lives for personal gain. These two disgusting characters are the embodiment of the word sinister and were partly the inspiration for the name of the show. Let's start with Bernie Madoff. So this man created a persona of respectability. He was a smooth talker and gained some respect by being the former chairman of NASDAQ. Now, what's interesting about his deception, and which should have been a red flag that few investors pay attention to, was that he never had a down year. What I mean is the stock market always fluctuates, right? It goes up and down, so how come he never suffered any losses? That question should have been asked, but it never was. Instead, everyone thought of him as a financial genius. So basically, critical thinking, even by the professionals who invested with him, was never conducted by them. Never in your life fall for any kind of false validation. What I mean by that is when you hear about prominent doctors, lawyers, politicians, people with advanced degrees investing with someone, or in something that makes you start thinking, well, hey, these doctors and lawyers are a lot smarter than me, so it must be a good investment opportunity. No! Never give anyone undue respect just because they have some letters after their name on a business card. And never sell yourself short. You're probably a lot smarter than they are. I don't care how many degrees people have. They can still be fooled. And in the Madoff case, that's exactly what happened. Now let's look at another trickster and evildoer. This guy, his name is Jim Jones. Now, for those who don't know him, he was another total fraud, a fake minister who developed into a type of demagogue. I recommend you guys watch the really well-made free movie about him on YouTube. It's called The Guiana Tragedy. Now, Jim was considered a good-looking guy who had a huge personality and great charisma. He used all the right words and pushed all the right buttons to gain and organize his parishioners to follow him anywhere. He grew his congregation through slow deception. At first, he seemed legit since his sermons were about tolerance and community building. He blended Christian teachings with socialism, promising some kind of utopian society free from racism, poverty, and oppression. His sermons often emphasized collective living, equality, and sacrifice for the greater good. He preached racial harmony and positioned his movement at the People's Temple as a safe haven for marginalized communities, especially targeting African Americans. You know, he offered to create some kind of paradise on earth, a world without prejudice or persecution. Now, who doesn't want to hear that kind of talk? Who wouldn't be attracted to that kind of message, right? So, as his congregation grew, however, the discernment on equality and tolerance started becoming sinister. He soon abandoned any kind of Christian pretext and developed his own ideas and message, which included demanding personal loyalty and obedience It kind of reminds me of a presidential candidate who alluded to doing the same thing should he get voted into office again, and then doing the opposite. Gee, can you guess what I'm referring to, guys? So, like I said, to understand the full story behind Jim Jones, check out the Guiana Tragedy video on YouTube to see how his big lie ended. It was really bad. Well, let me, I'll just tell you. On Jim's instruction, over 900 of his parishioners drank cyanide-laced Kool-Aid and died. So, now you know, that's where the expression drinking the Kool-Aid came from. Meaning, someone who has fully bought into a dangerous ideology to the point of self-destruction. And, in my opinion, that tragedy, that Guiana Tragedy, was a microcosm of Hitler's Nazi Germany. And if you watch that video, you'll understand what I mean by that. So, did I intend to scare you guys with all this information, with this podcast about deception, and watch out for evildoers? Well, yeah, a little bit, at least. Now, part of what this show is about is to present material so that you will develop something called healthy paranoia, which is a mindset of dealing with life's realities in an optimistic way. It's someone trying to remain positive, but who is also mentally prepared to take on deceit. There's an anonymous saying that goes, just because you believe they're out to get you, doesn't mean they're not out to get you. So, as we come to the end of this first episode, think of these three things. Number one, be effective. Deceivers depend on pushing the emotional buttons of greed, bias, tribalism, fear, and hatred. Number two, never forget that personal charisma is seductive. A good-looking person with a smooth voice, or an emotionally powerful narrative, with carefully chosen words, has always been the winning formula for many evildoers throughout society and throughout history. And lastly, let me harp on this again. Critical thinking is so important these days, because it's the enemy of deceivers. They don't want you to take the time to think things through, or to ask them a lot of tough questions, because then you'll never take their bait, or fall for what they're offering. They want to control your emotions, through their propaganda, to control your behavior in a way that benefits them and hurts you. So now you know the goal of this podcast, is an attempt to keep you aware and informed of how evildoers operate in our modern society. We will be on to them, to keep you and your family safe, because you just never know anyone's true intentions, which may be sinister. Well, that's the show for today, folks. Next week I'll discuss the seductive nature of propaganda. If you like what you hear, please subscribe. Thanks for dropping by. See you next Saturday.