pull down to refresh

I would like this post to be a guide and not a question. I think many of us have experienced this situation with our family members, where we tell them about bitcoin and they look at us as if we were speaking a new language or as if we were telling them "jump out of a plane without a parachute." Believe me, I have tried to have this conversation with my parents several times, which is difficult because they are chatting via text and not in person, so when they get bored or are not interested in continuing to talk, they just leave me on read or change the topic of conversation. Has anyone else dealt with this situation?
I am worried about my parents' future. They don't have any savings for their old age. In the case of my mother, who is the most frugal person I know, she has had to use it because she lives in Venezuela and, well, you already know the situation there. My father, on the other hand, is just another immigrant, dependent on an employer to give him work, and on top of that, his wife and my two younger brothers depend on him.
Their situation is something common that has happened to many (unfortunately), believing that they already have their lives arranged, and suddenly something happens that changes all that, goodbye house, goodbye own company, all because of poor political management of the country, all the savings, all the time of life invested in having something stable only for it to end up in the trash and they have to start from scratch, but this time not at 20 years old but at 50 years old and with the global economy more destroyed than ever.
There is a saying that "an old dog doesn't learn new tricks", but please, my grandmother at 70 years old learned to use WhatsApp and I think other social networks, so they have no excuse not to learn about bitcoin, but they are more stubborn than a goat.
Other times I think, well I'll make a fund for them with my own money so I can ensure something for them, but (I hate "buts") the situation has become a little complicated for me and as much as I want to because I really want to, I end up hitting a wall, so I want to work as a team with the two of them to ensure something for their old age. The proceeds from this publication will go entirely to them.
I only need the small and big detail: that they listen to me and understand what I say to them. When I have made progress with them and they manage to understand me, I will give all the details here, including a guide called: "How to make your parents see reason about bitcoin." It is for this reason that I insist on teaching our children about bitcoin from a young age, from naming the word Bitcoin to how to teach them to guard it, because once they get older the task is more difficult, it has even been difficult for me with my sisters who are under 25 years old, but that is a story for another day. I am the orange sheep of the family.
How many people understand how fiat money works? 1%? How many Bitcoiners understand how fiat money works? My guess would be less than 50%.
Before you try to convert people to Bitcoin, understand what it is yourself. It is not as some claim a guaranteed pathway to easy riches. Bitcoin is not guaranteed to succeed. Bitcoin is a peaceful revolutionary attempt to build a voluntary decentralised monetary system- quite different to centralised and compulsory fiat!
Yes you want to help family, but they cannot be forced to chose to adopt Bitcoin and should not be forced to. Bitcoin despite what some will claim, is still not guaranteed.
It still carries risks. It should only be acquired by people wanting to be part of a peaceful and constructive revolution seeking to build a fairer alternative to fiat...people aware this carries potential risks and rewards- not all people will want to be part of it.
reply
Thank you very much for your reply, I agree with most of what you say.
It's not that I want to force them, because that's impossible, but I want them to at least listen to me. They are no longer teenagers with all the energy in the world, they are adults now and I want them to think about their future and how to preserve their time and energy in something that won't lose value or to save their savings in a bank that could suddenly go bankrupt. I don't know if I managed to explain my point of view.
reply
Understand how you feel - since I found Bitcoin I at first tried to tell people I knew but all I got for it was grief. I came to the conclusion it is just not for everyone. Yes, now Bitcoin has performed amazingly and those who naysayed it have been shown wrong to some extent at least. It has given me amazing freedom of choice and I know others as well, but there is still some sort of mechanism at work here- at least this is what I believe-
-Most people who adopt bitcoin are to some extent anti-establishment- prepared to if not keen to question and break away from the established authorities- and so far Bitcoin has rewarded them/us-
I think of the Occupy Movement too that some of us were involved in - how frustrating that it was not able to gain traction or achieve change that was/is so badly needed ~ but now we can see Bitcoin Has Literally Occupied Wall St!
There is however still a majority of people who do not want to question the status quo and who believe and trust in or just blindly obey the established authorities- imo it is difficult to ask them to change their viewpoint- it is something that can only come from life experience.
IMO if they do not want to be part of a revolution challenging the current fiat power structures then they are probably not not be ready to invest in Bitcoin. You can try to educate them about why change is needed, but some people simply do not want to know because to know that stuff takes a lot of energy and often needs to overcome extensive societal conditioning. Despite its current obvious and amazing success to date, bitcoin is still not guaranteed to triumph and so best suited for those of us who genuinely want to be part of the revolution.
reply
Most of the times, people learn more effectively by example so I'd suggest you to ask them to give you a mid-sized loan for let's say half or one year. Buy BTC with the money, transfer it to a separate non-custodial wallets for each family member and set an alarm to remind you for loan maturity. When the time comes - gather them to a family meeting and show them the transaction history (preferably using Electrum wallet because it has a nice history page that shows the historical price of each UTXO at the time it came which will help you prove them how much they bought initially and compare it with the current price) and boom 💥 you achieved both:  
  1. Proving them your point that Bitcoin investments always pay out (especially when they are long term);
  2. Securing their initial BTC stake.
  P.S. The bonus you're getting with this method is that they will be forced to also learn how to recover, maintain and use Bitcoin wallet so that they can get their loan back 🤣
reply
I was finally able to convince my father to use this site and see what bitcoin was about. It takes time. There is no easy way unless they want to try for themselves.
reply
I am so happy for you and your family. Working as a team and supporting each other is the best way to get ahead. I will not give up, I will keep trying.
reply
Dont give up, but dont push things too much. Family is family, and it is worse to lose them over bitcoin.
reply
Oh of course, I haven't talked to you about this for a while now and it's time to do it again, I've been preparing my arguments for your excuses
reply
What excuses?
reply
I understand you perfectly since I started my path in bitcoin with my brother it has been difficult to learn and to know the amount of knowledge that this brings with them we have had to convince or try to convince his wife and my parents my parents are also elderly people 60 and 70 years old so it is a little complicated my parents also come from their retirement in Venezuela which also went to the trash honestly this is a difficult task to be able to show them that Bitcoin is one of the new solutions to what is called the fallacy of money as I tell you we have always tried to teach them with facts I know it is a difficult task but not impossible.
reply
I'd wait until after the cycle to bring that up at the dinner table
reply
Are you suggesting this because there is some FOMO going on right now?
reply
reply
10 sats \ 3 replies \ @DJGuy 19 Nov
I've tried to orange pill just about everyone I know....they just don't get it. People need to discover knowledge for themselves, it's the only way.
reply
I love this meme. It really seems like they don't and when they get a little bit interested, their first thought or question is: "How long will it take me to buy a Lamborini?"... and it's like everything you've explained doesn't exist.
reply
when people are not ready to talk about bitcoin, i work on their beliefs in other topics, and keep up the pressure. eventually all roads will lead to the question "why is the world so effed up?" and the answer is obviously the diabolical money system.
with people who already know why bitcoin, i go further - why and how anarchy and statelessness are protective against an authoritarian government. that conversation is much harder, but just like with bitcoin, i simply haven't mastered the material yet and/or haven't substantially gained the listener's trust yet.
another topic i have been exploring is ethics, the righteous way of life, and psychology. realistically, when u study bitcoin, u end up studying everything.
reply
That's very true, you start studying about one topic and you end up researching 20 more topics. Bringing up the topic to my parents bores them, not only about Bitcoin but about the entire fiduciary system and how it works.
reply
My father never agreed to HODL any amount of BTC. but my friends dad who used to rant him about why the hell he's always in front of computer instead of getting job, my friend who got really annoyed and mad finally showed how much he HODL in BTC and what is its exact value in fiat. His dad was really shocked and couldn't believe his eyes ,from that day his dad always wanted to learn something about BTC. I don't know if his dad ever HODL BTC (But im sure he did) as me and my friend had a huge fight about something really serious and i cut that only mf I had in my life forever lol!
I would really not suggest you to do things that may be annoying for your parents or too much. Go easy peasy if they're good at accepting changes, they might give it a try and if they aren't than we really don't know what to do? 🤔 I just hope someone would give you a really very good advice
reply
did he steal ur girl? you should get over that.
reply
lol no
reply
Thank you for your suggestion, I appreciate it and will take it into consideration.
reply
Best of luck!
reply