There’s one born every minute. Yep, a sucker. A sap, dupe, fool, idiot, jerk, nitwit, patsy, pigeon, simpleton. That should cover it rather nicely. P.T. Barnum got credit for the mocking adage but probably never said it. Really doesn’t matter who said it. The truth has a way of weathering time. Literally, therefore, in any given minute the world begats thousands of suckers who in time begat millions more. And there you have it. A  thorough explanation of humanity in one simple sentence. You doubtless will argue against this cynicism. You doubtless will argue that humans have come a long, long way since the “beginning,” whenever, wherever or however that beginning took place. As evidence, you will argue that we don’t hang out in trees and, for goodness sake, we have a 4G network to prove it. Unfortunately for you, history teaches that technology — from the wheel to satellite imaging — has not advanced or elevated human behavior a whit. Put your mind to it for, oh, let’s say, 30 seconds; and you must conclude that human beings simply can’t escape their genetic dispositions. If anything, technology simply exaggerates human futility. Witness the online scammers. Historically, predators targeted victims one at a time. Now they have 24-7 access to millions of suckers who can’t wait to prove their stupidity. Needy females of all ages continue to strut their sexually explicit charms in meat markets and the lucky ones only get raped. Lonely widows and widowers, desperate for love and a new journey in life, suck up flattery and attention and get taken for a quick ride until their money runs out. Greedy investors, eager to believe in windfalls, entrust their life savings to  charismatic Bernie Madoffs who are always primed to take candy from the baby . On a mass scale, the biggest saps are Black Americans who bow down before any demagogue du jour who vows to lead them to the promised land as long as they remain good little slaves and stay true to their masters. And they do just that, because being black, pissed off and resentful is more important than being free or self reliant. And then there’s politics — the venue that relies totally on suckers. And being good little suckers, the American people never fail to disappoint. In 2008, they gave the most important job in the world to an individual who never had a job, who never provided a job, who never owned a business, who never produced a product. They elected a blank resume. Mr. Zero. They elected a cardboard cutout with an authoritative speaking style — by God, when he said it, it had to be the truth. The Sermon on the Mount. Amen. Of course, it was a lie — all of it — and therein lies the secret of all the great con men (and women) — from serial killers to gigolos to black widows to business cheats — that secret is having the deceptive charm to lie repeatedly, and after being caught in lies, to persuade you to overlook the lies. And this is what suckers actually do time and again — this is how human beings have behaved from generation to generation. Certainly, you must wonder — with the accumulated knowledge from the brightest minds over centuries — with the clear history of irrational human behavior that irrevocably leads to tragedy — why do humans religiously fall for fakes and phonies? Why do humans inevitably stumble and fall on the same road to nowhere? Why, knowing what you know, do humans repeat the same tired mistakes? Many years ago, Flip Wilson said, “The Devil made me do it.” Maybe that’s the only profoundly true answer to this vexing mystery.  But, if Old Scratch is not pulling his supernatural strings, who or what is? The evidence must lead you to one conclusion only —   that, like all other living things on the planet, humans are genetically predetermined to act and react precisely — according to their specific, preordained Nature. No better. No worse. Might as well get used to it. And suck it up.