{"id":3375,"date":"2026-06-30T11:36:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T11:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3375"},"modified":"2026-06-30T11:36:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T11:36:09","slug":"mathews-united-scammers-of-america-celebrates-250","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3375","title":{"rendered":"Mathews: United Scammers of America celebrates 250"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For the 250th, the United States should give itself something better than cage fights or triumphal arches.<\/p>\n

Read more Opinion: ICE detention is as bad as it sounds. I\u2019ve been living it for 2 years.<\/a><\/p>\n

A new name: The United Scammers of America.<\/p>\n

Perfect, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

First, we keep the acronym USA, preserving our unbeatably jingoistic chant for world sporting events.<\/p>\n

Second, the name revels wonderfully in dishonesty. \u201cUnited\u201d remains a lie \u2014 Americans are divided, badly \u2014 which makes this a perfect union of name and country. A scammer country\u2019s title should be scammy.<\/p>\n

Finally, the new name allows us to escape endless historical debates \u2014 America is a beacon of freedom! America is a land of oppression! \u2014 and embrace the beating heart of what this country has always been:<\/p>\n

A paradise for ripping people off.<\/p>\n

Built different<\/h4>\n

The same cultural traits in which Americans take pride also create fertile ground for fraud. Our optimism makes us trust those we shouldn\u2019t. Our individualism means that we\u2019re often alone, thus easier prey for fraudsters. And our entrepreneurialism turns us into suckers for new schemes.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Hunger for opportunity and property drive our financial crimes. This country expanded thanks to the national government\u2019s deceptions and massive theft of Indian lands. America also invented the archetype of the snake-oil salesman, selling bogus cures or, in our times, serving as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.<\/p>\n

Americans are a diverse collection of scammers, targets of scammers, or both. You can\u2019t answer a phone, scan your email box, or doom-scroll on social media without encountering those determined to cheat you.<\/p>\n

Surveys show that Americans navigate 100 scam attempts a month, and that 40% of U.S. adults have been victims of some form of financial fraud or scam. The country has replaced Switzerland as the international capital of financial secrecy (and thus money laundering). In global anti-corruption rankings, the U.S. is now dirtier than Lithuania, Barbados or the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n

So, what better occasion to embrace our leadership in confidence games than during the fraudulent celebration of our fake 250th birthday?<\/p>\n

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The American republic started in 1789 and would be 237 years old this year, except for the fact that it died last year, when Trump consolidated his dictatorship. The America we know now didn\u2019t exist until California and Texas were conquered into the Union in 1848. We didn\u2019t become a warmongering empire until the Second World War.<\/p>\n

That accounting makes us 80. Same as Trump.<\/p>\n

While I\u2019m no fan, I appreciate the man\u2019s willingness to celebrate his personal and national scamminess. Which is why the criticism he\u2019s getting for Freedom 250, the White House-backed initiative, seems unfair.<\/p>\n

Read more Walters: Academic turf war between California colleges underscores need for new higher education plan<\/a><\/p>\n

Sure, Freedom 250 is yet another forum for Trump to take money from those with business before his administration. But that\u2019s small time, compared to the billions his family receives from crypto and foreign interests.<\/p>\n

Yes, Freedom 250 put a UFC fight on the White House lawn, but at least it\u2019s balanced out by a Rededicate 250 rally to celebrate America as a Christian nation. Not even mom and apple pie are as American a combo as violence, religion and hypocrisy!<\/p>\n

Freedom 250 is also Trump\u2019s scammy justification for erecting (without Congressional approval) a 250-foot-tall arch that will obscure views of Arlington Cemetery. But maybe that arch will be a blessing \u2014 it should also block those hallowed dead from looking across the river and seeing what\u2019s become of the government they fought for.<\/p>\n

The real problem with Trump\u2019s Freedom 250 is not tastelessness. Or that it took resources from the congressionally-approved, bipartisan America 250. The real problem is that it doesn\u2019t go far enough in celebrating our national talent for scam.<\/p>\n

The arch is so mid. Why not, instead, build a giant dome shaped like a teapot, to recall America\u2019s great 20th-century government scandal? If you want to improve the Reflecting Pool, drain its water\u2014 like it was the Colorado River \u2014 and fill it with all-American manure.<\/p>\n

Oh, and that monument to prissy Washington (\u201cI cannot tell a lie\u201d \u2014 spare me, bro) must go. In its place, how about a neon-lit statue of Charlie Ponzi and Bernie Madoff, giving each other a high-five?<\/p>\n

Founding criminals<\/h4>\n

Those who criticize Trump\u2019s embrace of crooks as amoral or worse say that we should honor the U.S.A.\u2019s Founding Fathers for their commitment to law and their loyalty to our country.<\/p>\n

But they misunderstand American history. The Founding Fathers were great because they were criminals \u2014 indeed, avowed traitors to their country, Great Britain. King George, in his August 1775 \u201cProclamation for Suppressing Rebellion and Sedition,\u201d declared that they were \u201ctraitorously preparing, ordering and levying war against us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Samuel Johnson, the preeminent British writer of his era and critic of the American Revolution, told his biographer James Boswell that the Americans \u201care a race of convicts, and ought to be thankful for anything we allow them short of hanging.\u201d Johnson wasn\u2019t joking. That\u2019s why Ben Franklin warned his fellow Declaration of Independence signers that they had two choices: \u201cWe must all hang together\u201d or \u201cwe shall all hang separately.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s your choice this Fourth of July? Go the traditional American route, and loyally celebrate this nation of scams with the scammer-in-chief? Or dream of a new future and plot some glorious act of treason \u2014 California independence, anyone? \u2014 over the grill?<\/p>\n

Read more Horoscopes June 30, 2026: Mike Tyson, apply discipline where it\u2019s needed<\/a><\/p>\n

Joe Mathews writes the Connecting California column for Z\u00f3calo Public Square.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. should ditch its birthday celebrations and embrace its true legacy as a paradise for fraud<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nMathews: United Scammers of America celebrates 250 - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3375\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mathews: United Scammers of America celebrates 250 - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The U.S. should ditch its birthday celebrations and embrace its true legacy as a paradise for fraud\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3375\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-30T11:36:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3375#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3375\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Mathews: United Scammers of America celebrates 250\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-30T11:36:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3375\"},\"wordCount\":946,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3375#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b8e746dabce59252c39ceaa11e8ccb19.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3375#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3375\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3375\",\"name\":\"Mathews: United Scammers of America celebrates 250 - 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