Ch's statement:

They treat all communication as an exercise in extracting benefits from (or causing harm to) other people.
is the core of the problem.

Everyone uses communication to extract some benefit.

The dishonest one is to say whatever is necessary to obtain your goal with no regard for what you actually believe.

And your example, is exactly that, someone saying a specific set of words to accomplish their goal. In either scenario, the words spoken and the outcome, whatever it is, are identical. The buyer manipulated the seller.

You seem to have some distinction between good manipulation and bad manipulation where there is only just manipulation. It is a tool like any other.

As for trust, you can only have a high trust society when it is in others self interest to see you succeed. Your success contributes to their DNA being passed on, either because you have the same ancestors and thus DNA, or because you will in the future help them (enlightened self interest). Anytime either of those preconditions are violated, no matter how communication occurs, you will have a low trust society. In a low trust society communication doesn't matter because the niggers are just gonna steal everything anyways.

Ch's statement:

They treat all communication as an exercise in extracting benefits from (or causing harm to) other people.
is the core of the problem. Everyone uses communication to extract some benefit.

The dishonest one is to say whatever is necessary to obtain your goal with no regard for what you actually believe.

And your example, is exactly that, someone saying a specific set of words to accomplish their goal. In either scenario, the words spoken and the outcome, whatever it is, are identical. The buyer manipulated the seller.

You seem to have some distinction between good manipulation and bad manipulation where there is only just manipulation. It is a tool like any other.

As for trust, you can only have a high trust society when it is in others self interest to see you succeed. Your success contributes to their DNA being passed on, either because you have the same ancestors and thus DNA, or because you will in the future help them (enlightened self interest). Anytime either of those preconditions are violated, no matter how communication occurs, you will have a low trust society. In a low trust society communication doesn't matter because the niggers are just gonna steal everything anyways.