Topic: The Bitcoin Community at its Worst (Read 3395 times)

Agree %100

I'm not wealthy either, but I definitely do not consider myself poor. I don't feel that it's unfair for some people being (extremely) rich *if* they have gathered their possessions in a fair way. Everyone that mined large amounts of bitcoin in 2009 and sat on them until 2013 cashing out at $1000+ dollar got their wealth fair in my book. Anyone setting up an exchange, holding large amounts of other peoples bitcoins and then taking them for themselves did not gain their wealth fair. I don't judge on having (or not having) something as fair. Gaining or losing something can be though.

Also I don't consider myself a victim and I don't feel entitled to other people's wealth. Though if anyone out there wants to share some wealth with me (instead of with say, skottiejay) I will not complain either


I guess so. In the city I live there are people in slums without running water. But they do have television, some even satelite. I guess it's hard to define poverty. We live in a weird world.

It's not something limited to solely Bitcoin - it is simply a part of human nature. No matter what you do you're going to have haters from people who are scared that a 51% percent attack will lower the value of their holdings and hence get angry and disabused when we get close to that as it has the potential of dropping the price like a stone.

I don't think anything is going to change, no matter what some individuals try to do - you simply cannot change human nature by yourself.

Poverty in the US has clearly been redefined.  The traditional definition holds true outside the US.

I guess then that we have different opinions on what poverty is. I know people have and have had it worse than myself. I've been lucky in the past to at least have a place to call my own and some internet, the computer was actually gifted to me and it was on it's last legs so mining was even risky. Poverty to me is exactly where I was, and now? Now I'm floating trying to keep my head above water and it's not happening. The community is very harsh about people who are in these circumstances, they feel as if people like myself are looking to scam them or other's out of money. That's not the point, I have no idea to scam anybody. I have no desire to, but I would like some help. Making 30 bucks every other week on a sig campaign isn't going to rebuild my life fast. It might not rebuild me at all. But I sure as hell don't think it's fair that people are holding large sums of this and I can't even rub 2 pennies together. Free internet/roof or not, that's not fair. It's not mine. I want something that's "mine" I want to be independent. I don't want to rely on others, but I can't do that by myself right now.

And you miss the point of my post. You managed to pay for all your basic needs and a notebook plus internet. Now consider how many people cannot pay for their basic needs. Then reconsider stating that you live in poverty. In my opinion you may not have been well off, but you were not in poverty.

once again, you completely missed the point.
in 2011, I was not in the position to do anything but make sure that every living expense I had was spent on making sure I still had a roof over my head, insecurities or taking risks or not, when you aren't sure if your going to be evicted, or if you have running water the next morning, that's when you don't tend to take internet risks on things you don't know much about.

And if I remember correctly, which I usually do. My little Dell Atom Notebook was getting 20mh/s while everyone had their Radeon xyz 20932902's and I was maybe making 0.1 CENT a day. So no, I definitely wasn't making any money off of bitcoin, and no that's not what I would consider rich at all.

You could spend $250 on a notebook. You were on the internet. You had time to play around with bitcoin.

You had food, water, education. You were getting your medicine so you also enjoyed healthcare. Did you actually at any time fail to pay for any of your basic needs?

Many people in the world would consider you rich.


On the side: mining bitcoin in 2011 was not profitable? Look how much the coins you (could have) mined then are (would have been) worth now. It wouldn't have earned you money in 1 week. But the returns over 2 years would have been significant. Yes, there is a risk. People generally don't earn money without significant effort or taking risk.

It's been this way from the beginning, and it's something I addressed in another thread. For newbies this currency is a nightmare, I made a post about it on reddit how everyone should at least get ONE shot. Who has the money now to buy a fancy ASIC rig? Who knows why one person might need a loan, or might need help with people chipping in to refund his life (me for example) why are people so hypocritical and cynical about this? So many people are quick to say "bitcoin is the wave of the future jump on" and then turn around and say "but don't bother me about it". We should be trying to help one another, I don't think the community or BTC in general is going to get anywhere if something like this keeps up. It's kind of annoying that when somebody is actually in need, the community in general thinks it's a scam of some sort. I understand the need to see where their investment is going, but I'm not going to jump through hoops to show somebody that I'm actually trying to rebuild my life.

BTC will never grow up, I'm surprised it's even still around. In 2011 when I discovered it it was 14 dollars a coin, I couldn't buy any then. I had to make a loaf of bread last me over a week. I was worried if I could get my medicines or if I could pay my bills. If you don't want to believe that, that's fine. But that's poverty. I tried with my little atom notebook to mine and it was just NOT profitable. Now? The only way to get btc is if you buy it (600 a btc no thanks) run sig campaigns or I don't know. Nobody is willing to let go and be charitable to newbies or people in general.

I thought we all supposed to help each other here?

All of these new cryptocurrencies and altcoins coming out, who's going to profit off of that? Certainly not me. Certainly not some new guy with a couple of asic's who thought they would be good to run for altcoin. No, those who were early adopters will sit amongst the top while those of us scrapping the barrel looking for help will be left fending for themselves. The rich will stay rich and the poor will continue to stay poor.

People get scared that their bitcoins will lose value. It's like a mother with her child. Protect it as far as possible.

Athene's theory of everything/Why he quit LOL has a good bit on why he left reddit, a good listen.

Umm... LOL? Do you realize what a Oligarchy is/was? I doubt the Admins of r/bitcoin would be so hellbent rich and voting down votes because, it's a Oligarchy people!

Isn't that irrelevant itself? Going on to a new topic whilst talking about this Oligarchy?


Anyway, back on saying 'reddit'  'Reddit' is terrible. I love how you guys are just giving one example, which is r/bitcoin, and saying ALL of Reddit is terrible. There's so many subreddits on Reddit, that you can barely count. Yet, you speak of each one questioning the 'Politicial beliefs'.

Oh yes, every Subreddit, including r/trees, r/gonewild, r/NoSleep, r/NoSleep Butler, r/Gaming, and hell, even r/WTF, too, huh?

Because that's totally not a invalid generalization, and guess what? Now everybody over at 4Chan never fight with each other. Oh, and yes, everyone in the Bitcoin community are blood thirsty scammers looking for another buck.  

EDIT: r/LetsNotMeet is now the leader of their 'Oligarchy'.

Doge is a scam currency, just like the dollar.

There's a reason for that. It's no accident that Americans have stunted maturity.

I'm finding the same thing. And r/bitcoin is no different. The admins will heap together downvotes on stories that they would prefer to not see on the front page or just delete threads altogether. Don't call something a community when it is really an oligarchy. Information should be left to it's own merits, and admins and mods should see only that the forum rules and etiquette be followed. Information filtering/censorship is wrong and damaging for the community.

It's good that schools got computers for the kids to learn on in the 90's, but you should have to pass an internet ethics course before being allowed to use the internet . The conversation can deteriorate into what sounds like Halo or Call of Duty gaming chat rather quickly. It is frustrating.

Disclaimer: I still read reddit.

By we need to fix this they generally mean someone else needs to fix it. I don't see a lot of coders among the whiners.

Because those whinging about how 'this needs to be fixed' would rather whinge than act.

More like the average citizen. Why would you just center out on 'the average American' or any Nationality in general? They're still human beings, some human beings are 'worse'. I don't get how comparing it to a 'average' American works out?

What is your definition of Capitalism?
Are you against free markets?

As an average American I think we should aim higher. 

hope is to increase adoption in order to dilute the Bitcoin community so that it is no worse than the average American