Sadly, there is much dishonesty in the business world today. It would be unfair to single out any particular profession or group, because there's a certain amount of shadiness in EVERY profession. Sadly, if I were to mention which profession I feel is the most crooked, it would be the clergy. Much of the preaching being done today is utterly unbiblical.
We see a lot of commercials on TV, where the fine print is so small that you couldn't read it even if you paused the screen. This, I think, is shady advertising. That unreadable fine print legally protects the company, but you can't even read what it says. I don't like that.
Realtors irritate me. They have a tendency to be pushy, dishonest and less than forthright. I remember looking at a potential home to buy years ago. The realtor pointed out the French Doors and other positive aspects of the home, while failing to mention the puddle of water on the floor and the leaking roof. There's a psychology that realtors use when selling a home that attempts to manipulate the potential buyer. I've never liked that about realtors. I understand that they want to make a sale; but they ought to just be honest and straightforward about everything in my opinion.
Used car salesman are infamous for lying about the condition of the cars they sell. I remember a man who bought a used truck, just to find out a week later that it needed a $1,500 clutch job. It is a shame that people choose to be dishonest and less than truthful to make a buck. There are many gimmicks that used car salesman use to lie about the condition of a car. I used to work as a mechanic so I know some of their tricks. One popular trick is to put bananas into the radiator of vehicle with a leaking cooling system. It's a temporary patch but it works. Another trick is to advance the ignition timing of a vehicle with a worn timing chain to compensate for the rough idle. You'll be needing a timing chain soon after buying the vehicle. Your best protection is to bring a mechanic with you to inspect and drive the car before you buy it.
Auto-mechanics are notorious for dishonesty. I brought my car into a shop once to have the shocks replaced. The mechanic later told me that my car was idling rough and needed a tune-up. He didn't know I was a mechanic, and I noticed that he had unplugged one of my vacuum hoses. I complained to the manager that his mechanic was trying to cheat me. If I hadn't known any better, I would have needlessly paid for a tune-up. It is not uncommon for mechanics to toss a handful of metal shavings into your transmission pan and then claim you need am overhaul.
Many years ago I called a shop for an estimate to have my transmission rebuilt and he said $600. AFTER he took the transmission out of my vehicle he said it would be an additional $250 to replace the Torque Converter and said it was mandatory because of fluid contamination. He had lured me in the door by deliberately lying about the total cost. Since the transmission was already out of the vehicle, what could I do?
I titled this article “Honest Thieves,” but there's no such thing in reality. A thief is a thief. The reason why I call them honest thieves is because they have convinced themselves that they're not doing anything wrong. This is typical of evildoers. Anything can be justified if you're willing to rationalize hard enough. This is why we ought to base our decisions upon the Word of God, which is the only true moral standard.
A book could be written concerning the dishonesty plaguing politics today, whether it be city, state or federal. Politicians are infamous for breaking most of their promises once they're been elected to office. I remember when Rod Blagojevich was first running for Illinois governor. He promised that he wouldn't raise taxes if elected. When he was elected, he deceitfully started charging new taxes on over 200 items. He kept his promise not to raise taxes; but he began taxing a bunch of things that previously had been tax free, so in effect he did raise taxes without raising taxes. Do you see how rotten and dishonest people can be? Prior to Blagojevich taking office, you didn't pay any taxes for labor on your vehicle. You only paid for taxes on the parts used. After Blagojevich took office, the State started charging customers taxes for all vehicle repair labor. It's just not right. There ought to be a law that automatically removes a politician from office if he breaks even one promise made during his campaign or deceives the people.
I don't need to mention lawyers. Thank God for experienced lawyers; but all those lawyer jokes didn't come into being for no reason. I never realized that so many politicians were lawyers, such as Bill and Hillary Clinton. It's interesting. I don't like to bash lawyers, but they have their own bad reputation for being greedy, rude and shady. And of course, there are good and honest lawyers. Thank God for both of them.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, preachers are some of the biggest thieves, and I think the biggest. I don't know any lawyers who took in $100,000,000 last year like televangelist Benny Hinn did. It's just plain rotten how so many televangelists bilk innocent people out of their money, promising healing and blessing in exchange for a donation. This ought to be outlawed. Preachers ought to be held accountable for the guarantees and promises they publickly make to those who send in donations. Tragically, televangelism today is nothing more than entertainment.
Yes, the world is saturated with thieves today, most of whom operate through perfectly legal organizations. There's a man rotting in a California prison for stealing $123 worth of children's video tapes. Some of the tapes were titled Free Willy, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It was his 3rd-strike. He was sentenced to 50 YEARS in prison!!! The case was appealed to the Supreme Court on the grounds of cruel and unusual punishment; but they upheld the lower court's ruling. That certainly is injustice when one considers the hundreds-of-millions of dollars which Enron executives stole from their shareholders and employees, and none of the company executives went to prison.
Benny Hinn mesmerizes people, promising physical healing and divine blessing; but NBC's Date Line did a thorough investigation into Hinn's ministry, exposing him as a big fraud. Yet the man doesn't spend a day in prison. Watch the Date Line video and then think about that poor guy rotting in prison for 50-years in California for stealing $123 in children's videos. It makes any decent person sick. Where is justice?
