"you'll find that Bitcoin users range from the common Iranian on the street, who is worried about inflation, to hit men and drug dealers"
Wow, really objective. Classifying the "normal" bitcoin user as an Iranian, for whom the average american probably has oodles of sympathy (I am not saying I don't like Iranian people, just that that this isn't the median bitcoin user, whereas the average american would probably be much more sympathetic towards an average (and american) bitcoin user).
Wow, really objective. Classifying the "normal" bitcoin user as an Iranian, for whom the average american probably has oodles of sympathy (I am not saying I don't like Iranian people, just that that this isn't the median bitcoin user, whereas the average american would probably be much more sympathetic towards an average (and american) bitcoin user).
In NLP, this is called a "frame". They're framing Bitcoin users as the demonized people of society, so as to generate popular hate for Bitcoin users. This makes it easier for the rulers to later invent or lobby for rules and punishments prohibiting or sabotaging Bitcoin and its users. If Bitcoin was a country rather than a currency, what they are doing here would be very well described as "beating the drums of war".
Now, I'm not suggesting any conspiracy here. People unconsciously do this very thing all the time. From a systems thinker point of view, all the people who worked together to produce this slanderous hit piece, are indeed collaborating (consciously or not) to produce a piece of work that is emergent, but looks like a concerted conspiracy.
Still, I can't quite shake the thought that evil is at play here. What are we to call a person who allows or induces people to lie and defame a good (or, at least, neutral) project and its group of users, if not evil? How taboo has the use of the word evil become, that not even Hitler gets called evil these days?
They can't allow the general population to get any crazy ideas like being completely in charge of one's money now can they.. 
