One of the questions I often hear from people around me is this: Why do you think Bitcoin is a good thing for people?
This question has often bothered me. Not because I don't know how to answer it, of course, but because of their negative reaction after my answer. Yes, bitcoin is very important to me. But I want it to be important to everyone. Bitcoin has revolutionized how we understand and use money. However, convincing others of this is a real challenge. Why are there still so many people who don't want to understand it?
You can probably say that I'm justifying the attitude of people towards Bitcoin and you might be right, but I'm trying to understand why it is so difficult to see the beauty of Bitcoin. Maybe we are also a little guilty of understanding the importance of Bitcoin, but not knowing how to explain it properly to those who ask us and show some kind of interest. Aren't we good Bitcoin "missionaries" to the world around us?
Bitcoin is very important to people, even though people don't understand it now. The importance lies in the ability that Bitcoin has to guarantee economic freedom, low transaction fees, transparency, security, and, what is most important, it is unmanipulated by government interventions, especially in those countries where there is political and economic instability.
I am fully convinced that one day, despite the challenges and skepticism that exist about Bitcoin, it will bring positive changes around the world and will play a very important role in the global economy and financial system.
I think the time will come very soon when people will understand this, but I fear that for a large part of them, it will be too late.
If they ask me why I care, then I'm going to talk about how Bitcoin returns control over wealth to the people from the state: they can spend it how they want, when they want, and it can't be devalued by crooked politicians.
You want to tailor your case to the person you're talking to. If it's someone who cares about privacy, focus on those aspects. If it's someone who cares about corporate greed, focus on those elements.
Persuasion is about meeting people where they are and addressing concerns they have. Making an abstract case about things they don't spend time thinking about is not generally going to work.
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You want to tailor your case to the person you're talking to. If it's someone who cares about privacy, focus on those aspects. If it's someone who cares about corporate greed, focus on those elements.
I think you are right! Perhaps this way could work better. Never thought that.
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πŸ’―
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Careful with what you think is "universally good" for others. What has been good for you, may not work for others. The person who wins the lottery might also be convinced that playing lotto is a good idea for everyone to try.
Suppose you Orange-pill someone you care about. Then they buy the top and sell the bottom and blame you/Bitcoin for making them broke.
If you believe bitcoin is a positive thing, theres no need for persuasion or argument. Just HODL and Be the Change. When they ask, "how did you get so great?" you can say "Bitcoin" and leave it at that. The best things in life don't need a salesman. In fact, if something is being sold to you, there's probably a good reason to avoid it.
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I fear that for a large part of them, it will be too late.
Reminds me of these Warren Buffett quotes:
If you're in the luckiest 1% of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99%.
The most powerful force in the world is unconditional love. To horde it is a terrible mistake in life. The more you try to give it away, the more you get it back. At an individual level, it’s important to make sure that for the people that count to you, you count to them.
I like to HODL a stack for each of the no-coiners in my life. If Bitcoin is a lifeboat, I want to reserve enough seats for everyone I care about.
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I think the issue is that most of us and people around us live in countries who do nothing too egregious with the money. Yes, inflation sucks, but it is not super terrible, particularly compared to buying and selling bitcoin at the wrong time.
When they start bailing-in the banks, seizing money for going to the wrong protest, introducing capital controls on spending and ATM withdrawals, people will start to get it.
Of course, there will be this "it won't happen to me" mentality, but that is a human universal - nothing to be done about it. For these people, it will, unfortunately, be too late.
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The problem is that others dont see a problem with fiat.
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Hyperinflation can destroy the social fabric of a country like Argentina πŸ‡¦πŸ‡·
When non technical senior citizens were told about bitcoin the response, are you sure the government cannot touch and manipulate bitcoin? That’s great how do we get started.
Bitcoin helps society avoid the ravages of inflation
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19 sats \ 1 reply \ @joda 2 Jul
It could if people used it. I'm still trying to find normies in Argentina who choose Bitcoin over stablecoins. There are some devs and nerds, but it seems like Bitcoin adoption has gone down-- businesses that used to accept Bitcoin have stopped.
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Tether is very popular in Argentina as a medium of exchange
El Salvador: almost everyone uses dollars not bitcoin. The only people using bitcoin are expats and tourists at bitcoin beach πŸ–οΈ
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people hated on cars, planes, electricity, radio, tv and the internet.
bitcoin is only 15 years old.
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natural law (aka common sense, karmic law, law of the universe) can be distilled to a single maxim: thou shalt not steal
bitcoin encodes this maxim into the entire network. as long as people maintain this network and follow the basic rules of self custody, don't trust verify, etc. this code will be in effect.
when theft of property is discouraged - theft of time, truth, and life are also discouraged.
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Because

Fix the money. Fix the world.

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19 sats \ 1 reply \ @Taft OP 2 Jul
Is that so easy?
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it's the inverse of "break the money, watch the world breakdown"
i suspect it's that easy, yes.
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but I fear that for a large part of them, it will be too late.
Why do you think so? It won't be late for anyone, even 1000 years later.
Btw, A very good question! I think people should like Bitcoin for it is the only form of money that is worth investing, holding, using. It provides you an opportunity to gain freedom and sovereignty.
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I just want to save in something that can't be debased. It's that simple.
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The most base reason is truth.
The fiat system is based on deception and ignorance. The masses have no idea how money works and my guess is that the Fed and how money is created if it were explained to them would anger them deeply.
1 bitcoin is one 1 bitcoin. No inflation of the supply that isn't auditable. No inflation once the full amount has been minted. The deeper I go into economics the more I see the effects of the deception. It completely distorts the business cycle. It distorts people's priorities. It distorts markets. It distorts morals. It distorts behavior.
A economy and culture built on lies will fall. It will be corrupt to the core. Add to the fact that most people do not know what fiat even is, let alone how it works and you have the world we live in. A world where the central cause of so many problems is ignored by those claiming to care about the problems.
Fiat is a lie. Bitcoin is truth.
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I can't disagree with you!
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1984 Oceania
Perpetual war
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It's good because it's best. It's the only money that I am 100% sure is mine.
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Think of all society as a single organism in which every person is an individual cell, there are many types of cells, skin liver nervous etc...
Money is the coordination system for all those cells, getting them what they need... like the circulatory system
The circulatory system is completely borked, flowing the wrong direction, blood isnt carrying nutrients etc...
Bitcoin is a cure for the societal circulatory system
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Because Banks and the Fed are. crookedly evil, stealing the hard working stored energy of the people.
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In my opinion, people cannot see the beauty nor can they understand how incredible and easy Bitcoin is... because of the pattern that society has for more than 500 years where they were simply taught to believe in fiat money... the so-called money that they can see and touch and that mistakenly gives them a feeling of security... it's everything!! I'm new to this in the world of S.N.. but every day I become more convinced that Bitcoin is the future.. and that the goal is to keep stacking πŸ’ͺ
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19 sats \ 1 reply \ @fm 2 Jul
just if you want to buy drugs from the dark web... all other uses are worthless jk
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Silk Road and Wikileaks accelerated adoption
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I think Bitcoin is a good thing for society at large and good things for society at large become good things for individual people.
It's a small distinction but significant. I also admit that there is a locigal cyclitality here, but I still think it's true.
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I think an underappreciated reason is that it teaches entitled bratty first-world compulsive consumers to actually SAVE money and think about the future.
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I guess it is democratic, independent and puts the common people in control.
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Always when I try to explain to them, I start by talking about fiat money, its system, its abysmal difference compared to bitcoin and how little by little the digital world has already covered many areas.
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Ask them back: Do you think its good for people to be forcedto use money that keeps devaluing so every day of holding it means, you get robbed of your time?
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I am fully convinced that one day, despite the challenges and skepticism that exist about Bitcoin, it will bring positive changes around the world and will play a very important role in the global economy and financial system.
It does already, despite challenges and skepticism....
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Sadly, the central banks have propagandized their product so hard that schools & governments around the world are quite intolerant to the idea that fiat money is weak money. They believe it is the best form of money BECAUSE the state gets to print as much of it as they "need" to. It's pure propaganda we're fighting.
The only thing that will get an alternative money to be widely accepted is the failure (i.e. full hyperinflation) of fiat... And even then, it will be restricted to a per-country basis because people refuse to care about their neighbor's problems until they arrive.
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It gives them something to ramble about.
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The ruling party in my country may disintegrate; my national retirement annuity scheme may collapse; but Bitcoin will always stay true to me
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Bitcoin is a project for freedom, justice and peace:
  • Freedom because you and you alone control when and where you can spend your wealth
  • Justice because it's rule based. No-one is special. No-one benefits from the cantillon-effect of being able to create money from thin air.
  • Peace because funding wars becomes more difficult in a system where governments need to collect funds by taxing (or by fair market interest rate)
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real value vs. paper value
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πŸ’―
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I think Bitcoin is a good thing for people because it is a digital asset they actually have full control over. With bank accounts, many are under the illusion they control it in full, but in reality, many of them just have financial privilege and are one mean tweet or bank run from being able to move their money around.
I think Bitcoin is a good thing as it is the first thing they can actually own without some trusted third party. There are several other things of why bitcoin is good, but this is the big one from my view.
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I think the time will come very soon when people will understand this
Agree
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stackers have outlawed this. turn on wild west mode in your /settings to see outlawed content.