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posted by mrpg on Sunday April 14 2019, @12:36AM   Printer-friendly
from the 好笑 dept.

It's only appropriate that the country with the $40 trillion ponzi financial system and where a broke pig farming company paid its creditors in bacon, only to run out of pigs, has created a pyramid scheme that involves literal pyramids.

Authorities in China’s capital are investigating two companies selling "energy pyramid" products using such illegal practices as fake advertising and multilevel marketing, The Beijing News reported Monday.

According to the outlet, police in Beijing’s Fengtai District launched an investigation with the national-level State Administration for Industry and Commerce on Monday to look into the products’ manufacturer, Weihai Ruihong Energy Technology Co. Ltd., and distributor, Beijing Hongzheng Technology Co. Ltd.

The companies allegedly advertised their pyramid-shaped wares — priced between 5,000 and 100,000 yuan ($740 and $14,900) — as having “healing” and “energy-absorbing” properties, and like any other pyramid scheme, attempted to recruit salespeople into a multilevel marketing operation.

Only In China: A Pyramid Scheme Involving Actual Pyramids


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 14 2019, @11:51AM (12 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 14 2019, @11:51AM (#829331)

    Then social security would be illegal. Many gov pensions too.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by FatPhil on Sunday April 14 2019, @12:35PM (11 children)

    by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Sunday April 14 2019, @12:35PM (#829339) Homepage
    Nope, idiot.

    Social security that relies on there being more taxpayers in the future than now, and social security that does not rely on there being more taxpayers in the future than now, are both social security. However, only one of them is organised like a ponzi scheme.

    So it's not the "social security" bit that's the ponzi scheme, it's the "organised like a ponzi scheme" bit that's the ponzi scheme. However, I wouldn't expect a libertard like yourself to be able to comprehend the distinction.
    --
    Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 14 2019, @12:54PM (9 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 14 2019, @12:54PM (#829347)

      I for one do not expect to ever see any meaningful social security, good luck counting on an obvious pyramid scheme to keep paying out. Your politically motivated false reality will have negative effects on your life, not my problem.

      • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 14 2019, @12:59PM (6 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 14 2019, @12:59PM (#829348)

        I'd even say the entire world monetary system based on the fed is a ponzi scheme that requires constant growth to avoid collapse. Namely, for every debt issued the corresponding money for the interest needs to also be generated somehow.

        • (Score: 1, Troll) by crafoo on Sunday April 14 2019, @01:40PM (4 children)

          by crafoo (6639) on Sunday April 14 2019, @01:40PM (#829361)

          Well the interest is generated.. by the labor of the debtor over time.
          Now, when the fed loans the government money at interest it makes us all debtors. We pay back the interest with taxes. See, the government can't just keep raising taxes for all the free shit people demand via their dipshit voting habits. So they ask the fed for more cash (running a deficit spending plan). The inflation this necessarily causes makes you poorer. The ever-increasing interest payments via existing taxes makes you poorer.

          The not-so-secret secret is that the social security fund will be partially unfunded in the next 3-5 years. So expected payouts will exceed taxes collected for that year. Either benefits get cut or the age of retirement gets a big bump; maybe to 80. Yes, it is indeed a ponzi scheme. We (this generation and the following) are at the bottom of the pyramid.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 14 2019, @02:08PM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 14 2019, @02:08PM (#829366)

            Well the interest is generated.. by the labor of the debtor over time.

            The labor of the debtor does not increase the number of units of currency though. When they pay back the interest it either come from somewhere else where there will be a deficit, or ultimately the fed "prints" it by issuing a new debt to someone with new interest attached.

            • (Score: 2) by crafoo on Monday April 15 2019, @12:47AM

              by crafoo (6639) on Monday April 15 2019, @12:47AM (#829550)

              Yes, you are correct. This money printing happens when the fed issues loans to the government. This money just comes into existence at this point. It must be payed for at some point with taxes, including interest. Taxes come from tax payers expending time and effort in exchange for money .. which they hand back to the government. for their "free" stuff. The ponzi scheme though is to shift this ever-increasing burden to the next generation or two, and avoid paying it yourself.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 14 2019, @06:38PM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 14 2019, @06:38PM (#829440)

            > Either benefits get cut or the age of retirement gets a big bump; maybe to 80.

            I turn 65 this summer. Wasn't planning to officially retire and start social security for several more years, since I'm healthy (not quite as fit as I'd like) and happily working. Maybe I should consider the above in my retirement planning?

            Anyone else in a similar position? What are your plans?

            • (Score: 1) by r_a_trip on Monday April 15 2019, @08:24AM

              by r_a_trip (5276) on Monday April 15 2019, @08:24AM (#829735)

              I'm Dutch and we already had the age bump. It went from 65 years of age to a little shy of 70 years. Since I'm not remotely at retirement age, I will have to factor in that I will have to work till I'm 70. I can only advise to get out at the earliest time you can, before a scribble of the pen either lowers your benefits or elevates your working years. As a pensioner you could always take a "secondary" job.

              Age bumps are more likely than the lowering of benefits though. Lowering benefits tends to bring about protests. Bumping the age is less contentious, because most people don't realise they do that in the hope that you expire before claiming benefits.

        • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Monday April 15 2019, @08:33AM

          by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Monday April 15 2019, @08:33AM (#829739) Homepage
          Internationally-dominant currencies tend to only dominate for periods of about 100 years. Maybe the US's term on top is up...
          --
          Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
      • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Sunday April 14 2019, @07:46PM (1 child)

        by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Sunday April 14 2019, @07:46PM (#829465) Homepage
        Nope, idiot.

        I live in a country that has had population decline for decades, and they've worked out the implications of that.

        You may live in an "exponential growth forever" woo-woo land, but not all of us do.
        --
        Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 14 2019, @09:33PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 14 2019, @09:33PM (#829487)

          The sad part is that when the inevitable collapse of the scheme happens, you will blame "capitalism" for your problems. There is just no helping some people, best you can do is plan around them.

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday April 15 2019, @04:29AM

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday April 15 2019, @04:29AM (#829640) Journal

      "organised like a ponzi scheme"

      Fortunately, I live in a land that has figured that part out by promising more than they deliver in the long term.