Big Barry Bitcoin on Nostr: Yesterday I got my cab home from the airport and the driver asked me to pay for the ...
Yesterday I got my cab home from the airport and the driver asked me to pay for the parking ticket. This was specifically because he only had cash and since I'd paid for the ride by card, he gave me cash in return.
Once in the car, I joked: "today was your lucky day, usually I only take bitcoin". What followed was a very deep conversation.
My driver was from Argentina, he had fallen into a pyramid scheme under advisement from a friend and was very sad that this friend had done such a thing to him. He has conviction, he refused to continue the scheme, but this meant that he was the victim.
He asked questions like "how can something so powerful exist?", and "who can do anything against these top wealthy people". He was in a very defeatist mindset and this was no place to talk about technicals. I assured him that there was something different about bitcoin, mentioned the fact that owning more bitcoin does not give you any more control over the system, comparing it to how more fiat gives you more political power which allows more influence in where newly printed money goes.
At the beginning I asked if he was interested in learning about bitcoin after bringing it up, this wasn't unsolicited selling, and bitcoin isn't a 5 minute pitch either. I let him lead and listened and agreed most of the time.
He was so knowledgeable about the problems in the world but he knew of no light at the end of the tunnel and he is healthily skeptical but it was not only out of intelligence, it was learned from his experiences.
He wanted to give me advice, his advice, not knowing anything about how I manage my finances, was not to put everything in one basket. Don't put all your faith in one thing. He has seen friends fall into a trap with Tesla where they bought, became successful (on paper), did not take back at least the capital, and then lost it all.
I wasn't going to be able to explain the difference between bitcoin and stocks here, plus I wasn't going to spit in the face of a man giving me advice. I thanked him and asked if I could return some advice.
I thought the best fit book for everything we had discussed was Hidden Repression by #AlexGladstein. I wrote the name of the book and author and suggested for him, specifically not to buy bitcoin, but to read this book, that it will confirm his understanding, explain the mechanics of how it works and shows how bitcoin can help.
I then paused and told him that he should first just find videos featuring this author because it is free, and see if it resonates.
I hope this is the first step to his understanding of bitcoin as a tool that addresses problems that clearly burdens him. He may decide to forget me, to forget my advice, but then again, this could be the beginning of hope for him in the same way bitcoin is hope for me.
Just wanted to share this story. I also want to say that I am very thankful for people like Alex Gladstein who have been enlightening us and helping to connect the dots as well as showing us real examples of how bitcoin is fulfilling its potential. It also helps us explore and evolve our understanding of bitcoin, and to reach others who need bitcoin.
Peace out.
Once in the car, I joked: "today was your lucky day, usually I only take bitcoin". What followed was a very deep conversation.
My driver was from Argentina, he had fallen into a pyramid scheme under advisement from a friend and was very sad that this friend had done such a thing to him. He has conviction, he refused to continue the scheme, but this meant that he was the victim.
He asked questions like "how can something so powerful exist?", and "who can do anything against these top wealthy people". He was in a very defeatist mindset and this was no place to talk about technicals. I assured him that there was something different about bitcoin, mentioned the fact that owning more bitcoin does not give you any more control over the system, comparing it to how more fiat gives you more political power which allows more influence in where newly printed money goes.
At the beginning I asked if he was interested in learning about bitcoin after bringing it up, this wasn't unsolicited selling, and bitcoin isn't a 5 minute pitch either. I let him lead and listened and agreed most of the time.
He was so knowledgeable about the problems in the world but he knew of no light at the end of the tunnel and he is healthily skeptical but it was not only out of intelligence, it was learned from his experiences.
He wanted to give me advice, his advice, not knowing anything about how I manage my finances, was not to put everything in one basket. Don't put all your faith in one thing. He has seen friends fall into a trap with Tesla where they bought, became successful (on paper), did not take back at least the capital, and then lost it all.
I wasn't going to be able to explain the difference between bitcoin and stocks here, plus I wasn't going to spit in the face of a man giving me advice. I thanked him and asked if I could return some advice.
I thought the best fit book for everything we had discussed was Hidden Repression by #AlexGladstein. I wrote the name of the book and author and suggested for him, specifically not to buy bitcoin, but to read this book, that it will confirm his understanding, explain the mechanics of how it works and shows how bitcoin can help.
I then paused and told him that he should first just find videos featuring this author because it is free, and see if it resonates.
I hope this is the first step to his understanding of bitcoin as a tool that addresses problems that clearly burdens him. He may decide to forget me, to forget my advice, but then again, this could be the beginning of hope for him in the same way bitcoin is hope for me.
Just wanted to share this story. I also want to say that I am very thankful for people like Alex Gladstein who have been enlightening us and helping to connect the dots as well as showing us real examples of how bitcoin is fulfilling its potential. It also helps us explore and evolve our understanding of bitcoin, and to reach others who need bitcoin.
Peace out.