Mob Mentality On Display And Bitshares Loses A Good Man: Good Job People
For those of you who are involved in Bitshares, the community lost a strong advocate yesterday and it is all due to the mob mentality.
There was a situation with AriseBank, self-touted as the world's first decentralized bank, being raided by the government and shut down. This was an entity that was supposedly "partnering" with Bitshares to create a decentralized financial warehouse of sorts. Obviously, this is not going to happen since AriseBank is basically no more.
Of course, this led to the posts and attack that AriseBank is nothing but a scam and the founder is fraud. That might well be the case, I cannot say. What I can tell you is that I am not going to believe they are a fraud because of government action.
What is scary is how many people all over the social media world do. My head is spinning at all the people who suddenly trust the government. People are claim to be anti-establishment are railing against this "scam" believing the government's actions. Do you know who runs the government? Banksters. Do you know who could be obliterated by the a decentralized bank? Bankster.
And suddenly they are trustworthy?
Sadly, one of Bitshares biggest advocates was the target of many of these attacks. I, myself, saw some of these posts on here where he was called out by name and answers demanded. Of course, this wasn't just the result of one or two people but an entire mob. The troubling part is I am certain 90% of the people have no idea what is going on. Simply more piling on that we see in some other instances.
Anyway, people asked @stan for his views, so he gave them. Here is what he had to say about AriseBank:
On that brave little team of entrepreneurs at Arise. I'm quite appalled at the treatment of them by the community and others. I'm shocked at the current feeding frenzy that was, and is, being so carefully engineered during the single month that I was trying to get to know them. No doubt, Arise made many mistakes, but I don't believe they were a scam. That word has become like the word "racist". You always know that the true scammers and racists are those who indiscriminately apply those terms to others.
From my limited perspective, it appeared that they had the resources, ability, and intent to deliver on everything they described in the Vision they painted on their web site. Like the Wright Brothers, their plans were ambitious. Maybe unrealistically ambitious. But that was for their supporters to decide.
Arise stakeholders were gravely and universally harmed by the authorities, not by Arise. Any harm by the Arise team remains a theoretical potential, permanently rendered unprovable at this point. It was a mere possibility, not even a probability. The probability of harm caused by the government, however, was 100%. Arise is dead. With no chance to demonstrate whether they could or could not deliver. Now supporters will have to sit out from participating in the industry for years waiting to get their money back. The opportunity cost for them is staggering! If the government had quietly investigated, maybe even asking for a briefing on what Arise was doing, supporters from around the world would have remained fully liquid, able to ask for refunds or sell their positions in the open market. Now they can't. Is that the kind of "protection" we want?
Notice @stan said "From my limited perspective...". I am certain he is closer to the situation than 90% of the people who were popping off at their keyboards. They have absolutely no perspective. Certainly, there are some out there who researched the topic and concluded that is was a fraud. I am also sure there are those who delved into it just as thoroughly who have a different conclusion. As for me, I cannot say one way or another since I didn't study the company.
What I can say is I was not calling out @stan for answers. I also was not engaging in a mob lynching of a company I know little about. And finally, I am not going to draw any conclusions based upon the actions of the government.
In fact, please tell me how often the government goes full Rambo on white collar criminals:
"I got woke up with guns pointed at me. So, you know, put your hands where we can see 'em, so obviously we did. It was pretty weird. At first, we didn't even know why they were here. They bought us outside, handcuffed us."
He goes on to say that the agents who arrived were all armed, one even carrying a shield. In the interview, he states that it was overkill.
"... they showed up, wanting to know where everything was. We gave them everything they asked for. They asked for passwords to accounts. We gave it to them."
You would think from reading that it was a raid on a Cartel drug lord. Instead, this is how the government raided AriseBank.
Here is a write up about that:
As I said, I have no idea if AriseBank was a total hoax and this Jared Rice a snakeoil salesman. What I do know is that neither do many who posted their attacks online.
Getting back to @stan, he also shared this:
Anyhow, I've concluded this is not the environment in which I want to continue to practice open transparency and exercise free speech, sharing my hopes and dreams and visions and plans.
This is Stan Larimer, signing off,
"from the land of Mordor, where the shadows lie."
Here is his full article:
https://steemit.com/bitshares/@stan/bitshares-enterprise-alliance-part-12-the-godfather-shrugged
That is right. @stan has decided to exit the world of cryptocurrency, at least in his role as ambassador and promoter.
And this all happened because the emotionalism of the mob. People jump onto one side or the other and start screaming. I am not on other social media sites but I can just imagine what was being tossed back and forth about Bitshares and AriseBank. It is evident @stan's name was dragged into it. Hell, I saw that on here a few times.
So here are some facts:
- Bitshares price did not rise simply based upon the AriseBank announcement.
- Bitshares price did not fall based upon the AriseBank issue.
- Bitshares pricing, throughout the month of January, followed the cryptomarket in general. It took off the early part of the month, pulled back, waffled up and down, and then took a plunge this week.
- @stan worked tirelessly at promoting Bitshares even embracing being the face tied to the blockchain.
- I do not know him but he seems like a decent man who had big aspirations for BTS.
So what got people so up in arms?
Did the AriseBank deal going bad cause people to lose money? I guess for those who invested in AriseBank it did. But the Bitshares hodlers are doing just fine. Yet they were the ones screaming from the rooftop. As I type this, BTS is at $.45, up 17% in the last 24 hours.
Fortunately, this is blockchain and Bitshares, like other blockchains, is not just one person. There is an entire community that is responsible for the direction of that blockchain. That is one of the strengths of decentralization.
However, it does sadden me to see @stan leave. It isn't because I fear that BTS will suffer, I do not think it will. It is the circumstances that led to his decision which is painful. Naturally, I am not surprised at this behavior on the likes of Twitter or Facebook. Those people are cyber bullies who engage in behavior that is borderline barbaric. What is surprising is to see some of the same behavior on here. People who profess to be operating on a different plane yet still grabbing a megaphone and condemning. And for what reason?
Because they are afraid. Fear is at the core once again.
I hope @stan enjoys his the next phase of his life. He did a lot for Bitshares and the community should be thankful. I only hope we all use this as an opportunity to do some serious soul searching. Does our behavior match what we post or talk about with others?
It is easy to profess to be elevated, enlightened, spiritual, cultured, advanced, independent, strong, and a free-thinker. Yet the proof is in our actions. When we call for people's heads or starting engaging in toxic behavior, especially without the facts, how are we exhibiting any of those characteristics? Even worse, how are we any different than Facebook, Twitter, or The President of the United States.
AriseBank most certainly will go down in flames and, maybe, rightly so. Unfortunately, a casualty of this is @stan and that is a shame, at least the manner in which it occurred.
I think Steemians are better served if they ponder the Rumi's Three Gates of Speech:
Before speaking (or typing) ask:
Is it true?
Is it necessary?
Is it kind?
If the answer is no to any of the three, then practice "silence is golden".
Restraint of keyboard and tongue is very difficult...something we all need to be mindful of.
To change the world, we must first change ourselves.
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Stan didn't leave. Gandalf did. Read the comment thread on that post and you'll see it.
Stan is just not going to go public with information and wait for trolls.
We didn't lose him, we just ended up with a more dynamic Stan.
Glad to hear that. I didn't feel like he was providing answers to questions so much as giving dismissive and vague platitudes.
what happened to him?
I share many of your concerns my friend. These sorts of events are going to happen and the mob mentality is a huge concern. I've seen people here attack others and I've witnessed their demeanor turn from a loving, caring individual to a vial and venomous hatred. It is astounding the changes I've witnessed and the hatred, violence and coercion that results brings great sadness to my heart.
Fear really does lead to the dark side and platforms like this can magnify and accelerate the path as there is little to no 'authority' to stop them. However, it will shift over time and I am confident that with people like yourself walking the path of peace and leading by example, we can influence them onto a path of peace when we confront their behaviour and shine a light on the ugliness we witness.
Mob mentality will diminish over time, but the transition will be ugly. As the government continue to attack the infrastructure that threatens their very survival, we will see more instances like this. We are confronted with the reality that violence and coercion will continue for some time until this all settles out. It could take years. In the mean time, we stand our ground and shine a light on the abhorrent behaviour of those who choose to attack when they are angry, scared or hurting.
I've lost friends to the dark side and I pray that we can bring them back. Peace to you my friend for having the courage to call people out on their violence. I support you in your drive for peace and prosperity.
Thank you @wwf.
I felt the same thing. There are people on here that I see talking about love and peace....about improving humanity and then, boom, they turn on a dime. Unfortunately, that is part of acceptance, accepting where other people are at this moment. As much as we want to change others, we cannot. Even changing ourselves is difficult at time.
The government attacks are going to really put a monkey wrench in the march towards peace. You are right, that entity is going to attack that which threatens its survival. It will take a long time for all of this to pan out. I only hope I live long enough to see the next phase completed.
We need STEEM to be priced higher....it seems the world is a better place when STEEM is more valuable. 😁
I think we are on the same page. The only thing that I question is your view that STEEM is the answer. For me, I see it as a tool and if we use it right, it can liberate people from the grips of the fictional constructs. But in order for that to happen, we need to use this tool to help empower people, educate them and provide the means within which to be free. That requires land, knowledge, experience, tools, seeds, animals, housing and all the other tools one needs to be able to live off the land and be independent of the body politic and the corporate empire. Steem itself will not 'make' us free but rather can be a tool that we can leverage to work towards freedom.
For me, if it all shut down tomorrow I would still be able to survive and thrive. Even those with a million steem, if it all shut down tomorrow, they would perish. Our needs come directly from Mother Earth, not tokens. All the tokens do is allow us to trade so that we can acquire what we need. However, there is still a huge dependency on the system to deliver those goods and services. Any disruption in that, and people starve or freeze to death. The state still controls the infrastructure. So it is our job to replace that infrastructure so that we are no longer dependent upon the corporate empire. Steem could be the grease to get that wheel turning. Lots of work to do to accomplish that level of freedom if we use the tools for that end.
I suspect people will use steem to just pay their bills and keep the dependencies going. As such, it will not save them at all.
I think @taskmaster4450's comment about the STEEM price was just a joke.
I absolutely agree with what you are saying here and have started following you based on this comment.
FUD is unfortunately mostly just based on some short statements people get from social media and the further it goes the more the facts delude after all... Sadly like you outlined there are just still too many brainwashed people without a clue what crypto could actually do for them. That being said it´s a shame to loose such a great person and asset to the cryptosphere like @stan.
I hope everyone who blamed him even just a little will at least regret that behaviour one day!
I agree with you @steembusiness.
Sadly, to have regret, I think, takes some reflection, something I do not believe most engage upon. In fact, I believe most are completely clueless as to the carnage their actions created.
It is the way of the world I guess today.
Sadly not many people really do their homework before blaming others these days... It´s just ways easier for most of them to just join the mob to be part of the movement rather than against it... I mean you gotta be brave to walk the other way.
Very true...it is as if people just want to be heard...not caring about the facts whatsoever.
It isnt surprising considering the US has a guy in the White House who is like that...he will launch attacks regardless of the circumstances and what the facts are.
I guess it is part of being in politics and the public spotlight. But on here, I just dont get it.
Does it make people feel better to do that?
Nicely said. 👍
hehe thank you :)
I wasn’t familiar with Stan but i hodl bitshares and I totally agree i dislike the mob mentality lynchings. I guess some whales in steem did that to the bitconnect blogger Trevon. Do i agree with somethings that person did, no but I just dont like the mob mentality lynchings would rather not see it in our community.
We live in a world of multi faceted people . Today they are with you and tomorrow they turn against you like they never knew you. I wouldn't say I am surprised at how bad things have panned out because that's generally humans for you.
Sadly, It's quite so unfortunate though .
I understand what you are saying @sistem and I have to agree with you. It shouldnt be surprising but, overall, I think it is. There is still a lot of fear out there, even on here.
People feel the "right" these days to attack others. It is really sad to see how humanity, at least in the west, is conditioned. The Internet only made things worse with cyberbullies and internet muscles.
Hopefully we are can moving in the other direction as a community.
Even if something where to be a scam, the raiding and pillaging that went on is harmful to the whole crypto community...
And people forgot about healthy competition, if you do not agree with Arise... than why not let it come out and fail than, instead it seems people did everything they could to take it down.
The lesson learned here is to be careful on what you announce, make sure its after FUD can cause this many problems.
This is so unfortunate and so unfair. This is a far cry from the way we are meant to treat people. How can one reach such conclusions without proofs. I hope this is not about to become the order of the day here?
I guess the facts and the truth means little anymore. People have an agenda which is the only thing that is important. As long as you hear me roaring, this is what counts.
IT IS SAD ..., always the government with its hands involved in everything and spoiling any attempt to be self-sustaining and autonomous, without depending on the big companies that have dealings with the government ... this situation happens everywhere.
for that reason in a writing of an author that I do not remember it said "the governments are the weapon of their own destruction"
This is so disheartening. What proofs existed for such accusations. It is so sad that we are still having the mentality of the banksters. I hope we know that by this attitude, we are shooting ourselves in the foot.
Thank you for sharing.
Magnificent article. At such moments as with AriseBank, I'm very glad that I chose one of the most reliable crypto currency - steem. Thank you for this article, good luck to you.