Thread by @polotek

No offense, but I'm probably on the other end of the spectrum on this. What I have learned about online discourse is that people show you who they are pretty early on. But the faux politeness people can waste a lot of your time.

https://twitter.com/kelseyhightower/status/1486195685980446722

But more so, I roundly reject the idea that we should be *more* concerned with being polite than with the harm being done. I believe that is one of the *primary* ways that we have created a society where harm cannot be effectively addressed.

We constrain ourselves from the outset. So the people doing the harm are afforded the benefit of the doubt. They learn to take advantage of these constraints we place on ourselves. While they are not bound by any such handicap.

I've watched @kelseyhightower engage with the crypto community and display superhuman levels of patience and grace. But reading his exchanges, I didn't learn anything I didn't already find out myself by taking these clowns to task.

I will also acknowledge that I'm conflating being polite and what Kelsey actually said, which is giving people respect. I should explain why, because it helps to unpack how I feel about this discourse with harmful people/communities.

Respect is a versatile word and can be examined in many different ways. I believe most crypto people tip their hand early. Because they are "polite" but not actually respectful in the way they engage.

However politely you might approach them, most crypto people I've talked to will not actually meet you in the conversation you're trying to have. Instead they insist on mischaracterizing and misrepresenting anything you say as a way of dodging accountability.

Crypto people do not have any respect for these critiques. I believe you believe differently when you wanna show respect. They search out people who they label "detractors" for the express purpose of providing a bad faith opposition.

I show people the respect they deserve when I ask them legitimate questions and expect them to engage in good faith. As soon as they turn on the smarmy bullshit instead of showing at least some awareness of the harms being done, I know where we stand.

We already know how this works. If a person in the fiat financial markets keeps talking slick and pretending nobody ever gets hurt, you know it's bullshit. It's not different here. But the people you talk to in crypto refuse to acknowledge what we can plainly see with our eyes.

Those are not people who are deserving of your time and energy in respectful discourse.