What people want is someone to blame… what they need is someone to guide them.
The word “Con”, in the title Con Artist, stands for Confidence.
How the physics of a Con works is that the Con Artist artificially builds up the confidence of their victim; or Mark.
They do this by giving them false praise and tactical compliments. While at the same time, the Con will belittle the people around the Mark who might challenge the image the Con is trying to build in the mind of the Mark. (The critical part of the image the Con is trying to build is that they are the only people the Mark can trust.)
The Mark is forced to choose which image of themselves they wish to believe, and distance themselves from the people who do not share or support that perspective.
Like an addict, the Mark will give more and more to the Con in order to keep their confidence artificially inflated and feeling good.
When the Mark runs out of what the Con wants, the Con stops inflating the Mark and pushes them away, or disappears altogether.
The Mark is left lower than low, with nothing left for themselves. (Dejected and often desperate.)
The only true defense against a Con Artist is to do the work of building and maintaining our own self-esteem, on our own terms.
Maciolekism 