Any teenage idiot has heard about occupy wall street or zeitgeist or alex jones or someone like that, and they're easy to brainwash.
Besides, the tone of voice that's used in the video is a brilliant form of peer pressure
Emphasis in the above quotes mine.
Does this community really endorse trying to spread bitcoins through
brainwashing and
peer pressure?
Does this community really endorse trying to spread bitcoins through emotions
instead of intelligence?
I was actually assuming the people who made the video
actually agreed with the video, in which case I would just say I have a difference of opinion with them.
But it doesn't seem like very many people here
really do agree with it. It seems like almost everyone is saying, "I don't agree with it, but I think it's OK to
trick other people that are
gulliable enough to fall for it."
I think that such an approach is unethical.
Now, some people will say, "it's unethical - OK, so what, who cares, as long as it attracts people to bitcoin?"
I don't agree that's it's OK to be unethical. But even setting that aside, being unethical doesn't really make sense
as a strategy for attracting people to bitcoin.
Consider the following (independent) points.
(1) That strategy reflects very poorly on the trustworthiness of the bitcoin community, which is going to dissuade people from getting involved.
(2) Behaving unethically is just going to attract unethical people, and that's not really going to help the community much.
(3) Most importantly: "Idiot" teenagers who can easily be "brainwashed" are not going to be particularly good advocates of bitcoin. Bitcoin needs smart, articulate people to spread - there are still TONS of those who have not even HEARD of it. Also, it takes someone with intelligence and a good deal of patience/persistance to actually obtain and use bitcoin, at this stage of the game.
By the way, let me emphasize, I am really glad people are putting time/effort into making videos to get more people interested in bitcoin. I do applaud that effort.
I know most people who have bothered to speek up in this thread so far do not agree with me, but there are going to be differences of opinion and I hope everyone is OK with that fact.
Hear hear. Well said.
I have always maintained the view - might as well repeat it - that we don't need belligerence ( which is more a sign of insecurity than anything ).
We don't need to attack the banks, credit cards, and paypal etc. in order for bitcoin to be successful. That would, if anything, only give them a
moral advantage.
We just need to focus on what bitcoin can do and let people choose what works best for them. Better than trying to manipulate the ignorant
emotionally is to help relieve them of that ignorance somewhat with information.
Is bitcoin so lacking in positive qualities that we need to play these unethical marketing games to try and impose it on the masses?
Do we really need to become raving conspiracy clowns?
