How can Bitcoin be used to promote ethnic diversity?

[Third Way]

I am Puerto Rican, my skin town is brown. Due to the thread starters logic, I deserve free bitcoins due to the color of my skin and origin of birth.

Give me bitcoins or you are racist and propagate white dominion over the lesser races. Don't be racist, send me your BTCs here and I declare you non-racist.

1J1HRekySAL1NbubY5W88esaDZnVgeGydf

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[The Script]

I am Puerto Rican, my skin town is brown. Due to the thread starters logic, I deserve free bitcoins due to the color of my skin and origin of birth.

Give me bitcoins or you are racist and propagate white dominion over the lesser races. Don't be racist, send me your BTCs here and I declare you non-racist.

1J1HRekySAL1NbubY5W88esaDZnVgeGydf

Yes, but I'm a black-Asian-Navajo autistic kid who's also paraplegic, so I think that trumps your Boricua awesomeness.  Sorry.  Send ME all YOUR bitcoins, or you are a hater.  Also, did I mention I'm mentally retarded? 

[rezin777]

What use is Bitcoin if it doesn't do the same?

My hammer is amazing at driving nails, pulling nails, and many other hammerly things, but it doesn't feed starving kids in Africa. Should I be looking for a new hammer?

Oh wait no, it's a tool with specific purposes. I would be insane to expect my hammer to feed staving kids in Africa, just like I would be if I expected bitcoin to promote ethnic diversity.

[skull88]

How can we ensure that Bitcoins are distributed equitably to traditionally underrepresented groups?

You didn't allready buy half the coins in circulation and gave them away? pfff you racist pig.  

Seriously, everybody has just as much opportunities to earn bitcoins with working for them or mining them as anyone else. It's a currency, what do you expect from it? Solving every problem in the whole wide world? It can be a start and solve many things but I don't think promoting ethnic diversity is on the list.

[mjsbuddha]

Ironically the "diversity" movement is making the human race less diverse as we all start to interbreed. 100 years from now everyone will be a light shade of brown.

[SgtSpike]

"Ethnic diversity" is just a way to discriminate against white males.

Example:  College scholarships.  You get special scholarships for being of a different culture, something besides white.  Whites get nothing.  Fair?  No.  Equal?  No.  Racist?  Absolutely.

I stopped taking so-called "equality" seriously a long time ago.  There is nothing equal about it.

[Darth Severus]

How can we ensure that Bitcoins are distributed equitably to traditionally underrepresented groups?

When I´m gona become rich, I will share my BTC with prostitutes of all races. I promise. Many other of the "white" nerds and geeks here will do the same for sure, so there´s no need to sorrow...  Also for sure this is gonna work better than every govermental programm.

"Ethnic diversity" is just a way to discriminate against white males.

Full ACK

[no to the gold cult]

Today business products and even ideas are recognized as worthless if they don't promote ethnic diversity.

Ethnic diversity is quickly being realized as the single most important objective for human endeavor. Fortune 500 companies realize this and have complex plans to encourage diversity. Workers are often sent, on company time, to diversity seminars. For the government, the same is true. Since the 1950s, the United States Federal Government has worked relentlessly to promote integration and diversity in the United States and abroad.

What use is Bitcoin if it doesn't do the same? How can we ensure that Bitcoins are distributed equitably to traditionally underrepresented groups? What is being done to ensure the proliferation of Bitcoin infrastructure amongst communities of color?

Obvious troll is obvious.

Bitcoin is money, ironically enough money will not solve poverty or discrimination any more than thermometers or the FTP protocol can. It's an insult to people dealing with these problems to pull this question out of the hat in the way you have, your intention is to ridicule those who work to address such issues.

[no to the gold cult]

"Ethnic diversity" is just a way to discriminate against white males.

Example:  College scholarships.  You get special scholarships for being of a different culture, something besides white.  Whites get nothing.  Fair?  No.  Equal?  No.  Racist?  Absolutely.

I stopped taking so-called "equality" seriously a long time ago.  There is nothing equal about it.

Yeah, white males have had a long history of being kept down by da man.

[Anonymous]

gavin looked like a vulcan in his last interview with jason calacanis. 

Bitcoin was invented by a japanese person.

Theres also this guy who regularly pimps bitcoin on his youtube videos. The only people who need help are old white guys in the current banking system . 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry17VN5udFE&feature=relmfu

[bittersweet]

What use is Bitcoin if it doesn't do the same?

The use of Bitcoin is trading. Personally I couldn't care less about ethnicity of people I trade with.

But a racist like you, interested in maintaining some particular ethnic proportions (in this case as evenly distributed as possible), is free to start a foundation, buy Bitcoins and give them away to people because of their skin color, size, gender or whatever.

[goatpig]

Bitcoin doesn't discriminate against any ethnicity so I don't quite see what else needs to be done. The need to promote arises from existing discriminations. Bitcoin inflicts none so it has no responsibility to promote anything.

I can't fathom how Bitcoin is to promote ethnic diversity anyways, besides providing some translation on the wiki. Unless you're suggesting your BTC should be served with couscous stuffed in a vuvuzela held by a Buddha statue drifting on the Rio Grande?

[SATOSHl]

This might be racist but they do it all the time in TV commercials and ads.  Sometimes they'll add a black guy or some other minority to an ad so it looks like everyone and every race is into it.  Or, to make a product "cool" they will use a black guy or black rapper.

We could promote Bitcoin by getting Jay-Z to rap about Bitcoins, Bill Gates, and Donald Trump and then Bitcoin would look cool.

Here is a sample commercial.

"Bitcoins is for white people." - Gavin
"Bitcoins is for black people." - Jay-Z
"Bitcoins is for asian people." - Satoshi
"Bitcoins is for all people." - (Said together)

Now Gavin and Satoshi will look cooler with Jay-Z next to them.

[The Script]

This might be racist but they do it all the time in TV commercials and ads.  Sometimes they'll add a black guy or some other minority to an ad so it looks like everyone and every race is into it.  Or, to make a product "cool" they will use a black guy or black rapper.

We could promote Bitcoin by getting Jay-Z to rap about Bitcoins, Bill Gates, and Donald Trump and then Bitcoin would look cool.

Here is a sample commercial.

"Bitcoins is for white people." - Gavin
"Bitcoins is for black people." - Jay-Z
"Bitcoins is for asian people." - Satoshi
"Bitcoins is for all people." - (Said together)

Now Gavin and Satoshi will look cooler with Jay-Z next to them.

Correction:  Gavin and Jay-Z will look cooler with Satoshi next to them.

[Gavin Andresen]

if we want acceptance, we therefore want numbers.  massive numbers.  micropayments is not so much the issue -  what about microloans?
have you approached kiva (http://www.kiva.org/ )?
has anybody?

Neat idea!  All sorts of chicken-and-egg hurdles to overcome (what good is a bitcoin loan if there is nothing to spend the bitcoins on?), but microlending bitcoins would be great.  I'm spread a little thin at the moment, but if you think a conversation with kiva right now might be worthwhile then go for it.  You don't need anybody's permission or advice to become the Bitcoin-Kiva Liason Officer.

[marcus_of_augustus]

if we want acceptance, we therefore want numbers.  massive numbers.  micropayments is not so much the issue -  what about microloans?
have you approached kiva (http://www.kiva.org/ )?
has anybody?

Neat idea!  All sorts of chicken-and-egg hurdles to overcome (what good is a bitcoin loan if there is nothing to spend the bitcoins on?), but microlending bitcoins would be great.  I'm spread a little thin at the moment, but if you think a conversation with kiva right now might be worthwhile then go for it.  You don't need anybody's permission or advice to become the Bitcoin-Kiva Liason Officer.

Just a word of warning here. Loaning in a deflationary money like bitcoin is hell for the borrowers, since they will probably exchange it into the local currency and then when they come to convert back to pay it off they will get hammered on any appreciation in bitcoin value.

For poor people to be loaning in bitcoins right now would be very, very tough to pay back later. It is like what happend to the Eastern Europeans who loaned "low interest" Swiss franc loans. They got killed when their local currency depreciated and they are suddenly saddled with huge loans they will never pay back.

[Jaime Frontero]

if we want acceptance, we therefore want numbers.  massive numbers.  micropayments is not so much the issue -  what about microloans?
have you approached kiva (http://www.kiva.org/ )?
has anybody?

Neat idea!  All sorts of chicken-and-egg hurdles to overcome (what good is a bitcoin loan if there is nothing to spend the bitcoins on?), but microlending bitcoins would be great.  I'm spread a little thin at the moment, but if you think a conversation with kiva right now might be worthwhile then go for it.  You don't need anybody's permission or advice to become the Bitcoin-Kiva Liason Officer.

Just a word of warning here. Loaning in a deflationary money like bitcoin is hell for the borrowers, since they will probably exchange it into the local currency and then when they come to convert back to pay it off they will get hammered on any appreciation in bitcoin value.

For poor people to be loaning in bitcoins right now would be very, very tough to pay back later. It is like what happend to the Eastern Europeans who loaned "low interest" Swiss franc loans. They got killed when their local currency depreciated and they are suddenly saddled with huge loans they will never pay back.

you're right about borrowers getting hammered - if they're required to pay back in Bitcoin.

what i was thinking of was more along the lines of getting Kiva to accept Bitcoin, do the currency conversion themselves, loan the money out, and re-payment would be in fiat currency at the basis value.  i.e.:

i send Kiva 1 BTC, valued at $10.
Kiva loans $10 to a borrower.
the borrower pays back $10 plus 10% interest.
Kiva sends me $11.

sure, i'd take the deflationary hit, but the cause is good, and what the hell - if i'd sold the Bitcoin for $10 i wouldn't enjoy the [potential] increase in value anyway, would i?  this way, i get $11...

BUT - more to the point, getting Kiva to do business in Bitcoin (even if only in one direction) would be a huge (thank you donald...) win for Bitcoin.  i mean, the guy who thought up Kiva won a Nobel Prize, didn't he?  serious press...

[ribuck]

Much better to promote Bitcoin in the third world as a system for micro-savings rather than micro-borrowings.

[Jaime Frontero]

Much better to promote Bitcoin in the third world as a system for micro-savings rather than micro-borrowings.

how does one save, without income?

[ribuck]

how does one save, without income?

Income isn't something handed to people by fiat. Income is something people get by working. And even in poor countries there are some jobs that you can do which don't require capital.

So you could work even harder than you otherwise would have to, and live even more frugally than you otherwise would have to, and save the difference as bitcoins. Providing for a better future.

I'm not saying it's easy. Just that it's desirable, and for many people is possible.