The term “grifter” has become inseparable from our political landscape, especially in the era of social media. While it’s overused about as much as the phrase “woke Right,” at its core, it describes political hacks who are motivated solely by capitalizing on any given situation for their own financial benefit.
Combine this with our society’s bizarre obsession with online fundraising, and we’ve doomed ourselves not just to circle the drain, but to plunge headfirst into the sewer.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been raised for alleged murderer Karmelo Anthony. The alleged murderer of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, who was assassinated in broad daylight, has received over $1 million in donations to his legal defense fund. Shiloh Hendrix, the woman who was recently filmed calling a young black child a racial slur, raised over $700,000 in just a few days. And now, even the virulently antisemitic Temple University student who was accused of paying for a “f*** the Jews” sign shown at a Philadelphia bar last weekend has a fundraiser!
In isolation, each one of these instances provides worrying insight into the damaging tribalism that now dominates our lives, in which evil people are celebrated and rewarded for their evil.
