• breadsmasher@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    “I randomly sent a coupon to the bank with no context, then asked the ceo what I can pay with. They said dollars via a check. What do I do now?”

    This place is like a zoo, watching absolute fools try and survive society through an incredibly warped lens

  • SteefLem@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    Ok so i seen a few of these sovcit things and i got a question. So these ppl basically hate everything corporate and state law and stuff, but yet they use every possible thing these have to offer and then dont get it when a “coupon” doesnt work?? I mean if they hate it all that much, why use it? But im probably missing something.

    • Electricblush@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      So as far as I can understand there is this whole crazy convoluted thought process that is the base of the sovcit thing.

      It is conplicated and deranged but it can be boiled down to them thinking there is some sort of “cheatcode” to every interaction with public and official ententies. If they just use the right words and phrases they can get out of debt, avoid prosecution, get a free beer…

      It’s all really weird and confused.

      • ArbiterXero@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        I think it’s a combination of a few things…

        1. It’s nearly impossible to REALLY get ahead these days. Everyone seems to be just keeping their heads above water, so people are getting desperate. They’ve run out of good answers to their problems

        2. They see a lot of people cheating each other and want to cheat the system themselves

        3. It uses legalese that they don’t really understand, but they think they do and it makes them feel powerful to understand something you don’t

        4. See point one. They don’t have legal options to solve their problems.

        • TexasDrunk@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          Let’s not forget that there are grifters out there selling this information. They’re cheating people.

          I like to make fun of SovCits, especially the true believers. We just can’t forget that, even though they’re shitbags who want all the benefits of society with no responsibility, they’re still victims of even bigger shitbags.

          • ArbiterXero@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            I mean the ones that end up on YouTube are shitbags, But I’m not certain that all of the rest are shitbags…… to be seen?

        • Donkter@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          I never thought about it but #2 is probably a huge one. They see their local business man make it through COVID with 3 false PPE loans and feel they missed out. Or they hear about the corrupt construction company owner in their town and they don’t blame them they just want to get a piece of the pie and they don’t know how until they’re told about sovereign citizenship.

      • SteefLem@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Well to be fair there is a cheat code, but you have to have a couple of hundred million to activate it.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Basically, they think you can make it through life without spending any money if you can just figure out the real world version of up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start.

    • Mnemnosyne
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      6 months ago

      They believe the law is a magic language, where if you learn the secret words and perform the secret rituals, you get to use shortcuts to bypass the normal rules. They see themselves as a secret society of law wizards, essentially. In some ways media has encouraged this by making contracts and such to be these arcane things with tricksy loopholes if you just figure out how to sneak through, but their belief goes far beyond what you might see in media.

      They also hold lots of contradictory ‘logic’ and opinion. Like that the government/corporations/someone is trying to screw you, and yet for some inexplicable reason they will instantly capitulate and be powerless if you speak the right words. It really, really has parallels to the concept of binding demons and such with magical contracts with the right magical words. Or the fact that they believe these things to be secret-ish and relatively unknown except by their peers, but at the same time become outraged when every minor functionary of any government or company doesn’t immediately recognize their secret words and capitulate.

      It’s as though the same sort of people who once believed in witchcraft and demons and all have adapted to the modern world where all that stuff is laughably false, but we all believe in ‘the law’ and ‘science’ and such, and therefore they come up with superstitions dressed in the clothes of law, but it’s still the same old stuff. It’s very similar to the bronze age man who sacrifices a goat or his daughter or whatever in order to get better crop yields.

  • AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    I thought he’d accept any old piece of paper I have laying around, but instead he seems to only want actual money. This greatly surprises and disappoints me. What shall I do?

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    Has anyone had any success with American express?

    Yes, all of the people who pay their bill with real money and not “payment coupons.”

  • Guadin@k.fe.derate.me
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    6 months ago

    Why do they think they can do this? I mean, sure most corporations suck. But you don’t have to do business with them. Especially not if you don’t want to follow their rules.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Because they believe they can get something for nothing if they can just follow the right rules the right way.

      And many of them end up paying thousands of dollars to learn the “secrets.”

      • Electricblush@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        This is the key. Like a lot of other such scams and conspiracies they are either by design or just “evolution” geared towards exploiting desperate and or uncritical people for the profit of snake oil salesmen.

        Like a lot of e-mail scams it actually helps if you can weed out any person that could waste your time or spread knowledge to others early in the process.

    • TragicNotCute@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      I think they get in with the wrong crowd online and then it starts to turn into a “them vs the world” type thing. When you and your buddies are the only holders of truth and the entire world is crooked, I suspect that’s a powerful motivator to continue to believe this shit.

      • Klicnik
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        6 months ago

        They must have skipped the part of elementary school where they talk about the scientific method. They hypothesize that there are magic words that make reaponsibility go away. They test it out, seemingly over and over. It never works. Yet they conclude that their hypothesis must be correct and they just messed up the testing.

        • TragicNotCute@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          I think the hardship and struggles further enforce the “us vs the world” mindset and I suspect only makes them dig in harder.

  • Dudewitbow@lemmy.zip
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    6 months ago

    some sovcits dont realize currency is only as valueable as the trust in the government behind it to not screw up its value.

    its why when countries go through massive inflation, the layperson may reject local currency in favor of more stable currency.

    the same law is the one that crypto is behind. an arbitrary coin is only as valuable as its rarity and the value in which deem it valuable.

    the sovcits dont realize the coupons have no value to others, no matter how much they value it as. its like the tiny disclaimer on coupons where the actual value of the coupon or w/e is 1 cent.

  • Th4tGuyII@kbin.social
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    6 months ago

    A currency as a “negotiable instrument” only works because:

    A. Everyone agrees that it does,

    B. Because the controller of the currency has value with which to back the currency

    B is less important these days with Fiat currency, but A is essential.

    Unless you’re a country’s central bank, nothing you make as a “negotiable instrument” is going to be recognised as such - and even if it was, if you’ve no valuabke resource with which to back it up, it’s worthless, so nobody would want it.

    I feel sorry for these people because I do get the sentiment behind it. They feel like they’re being screwed over and want a way to fight back - but if it were this easy, everybody would be doing it.

    • BonesOfTheMoon@lemmy.worldOPM
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      6 months ago

      You know those remittance slips at the bottom of bills that you can cut off and submit with a cheque via mail? They think if they endorse that as a cheque would be, that’s a payment.

      • Xaphanos@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        As I understand, they believe that the keyword “coupon” applies to this piece of paper in the supermarket sense.

    • Th4tGuyII@kbin.social
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      6 months ago

      Essentially, they’re writing $1,000,000 on a piece of paper and declaring it to be worth the full amount of the debt. The bank issuing this “coupon” being themselves, who can totally back this coupon’s worth.

      Kinda like if tried to pay your bills with monopoly money.