Is the @dollarvigilante a scammer? [Answer: I don't really care and neither should you]
Image Credit: KitKat523
The @dollarvigilante (aka. TDV, Jeff Berwick) has caused a bit of a stir since his arrival to Steemit. TDV has made serious bank becoming one of the top earners in just a matter of weeks, and his instant success combined with what may be questionable behavior in his personal life seems to have rubbed some Steemit users the wrong way. Take a look at these posts:
- @appleguy wrote "Dollar Vigilante Exposed: A scammer with rape accusations and passport frauds"
- @moonjelly wrote The Dollar Vigilante EXPOSED - God's Gonna Cut You Down
Now I would like to make clear that this post is not an indictment of either of these users. In fact, @moonjelly is one of my favorite Steemers and I think he did a valuable public service by being one of the first to address Mr. Berwick's presence on Steemit. These posts are not trolling and are not 'butthurt' - as some commenters elegantly refer to them as. They simply allow us to become better informed voters, which is extremely important given that each vote on a post both pays the author and elevates his/her power and influence within Steemit.
My initial emotional response to these posts was one of disgust toward Mr. Berwick. I even replied to @moonjelly's post with an insulting and somewhat crude comment. I felt guilty minutes later and removed the comment, mostly because it was not inline with the type of Steemit contributor I wish to be, but also because I don't wish to directly accuse Mr. Berwick of anything. After all, I have never met the guy and I am only dealing with information obtained from the Internet, which we all know is not always the most factual. All I can do is give my personal opinion.
Here is what I think I know about TDV:
1) TDV ran an illegal passport operation which appears to have failed and his clients at the time lost a large sum of money.
My Response: Boo hoo. Why were these clients in need of fraudulent passports anyway and what do I care if one fraudster cons another.
2) TDV "believes" that the world is on the brink of social and economic collapse because the 0.1% of the 1%, guided by a secret historic script, controls everything and is ready to bring destruction upon us all. Fortunately, TDV is privy to their plan and can protect you and your wealth - all for a small subscription fee of course :)
My Response: Fear mongering and preying on people's anxieties for profit. TDV is the Rush Limbaugh of anarcho-capitalists. There is nothing wrong with this of course. I may not agree with him, but he is not breaking any laws and everyone is entitled to their own point of view.
Setting My Opinion Aside:
TDV may be a bit braggadocious; he may hold some views I personally find ridiculous; he may even indeed be a scammer, but the thing is I don't really care.
Why? Because clearly there is a high demand for his content amongst Steemit users and his behavior here on Steemit has been perfectly acceptable. From what I have seen he is not dragging the community down by trolling and he is not scamming Steemit users. Instead he is currently acting as one of the strongest promoters of the platform, actively pushing others to join and contribute. In its current stage of growth Steemit requires this kind of marketing. I wonder how many individuals have joined Steemit just because of Mr. Berwick?
I thank @appleguy and @moonjelly for sharing their opinion and for providing us with a chance to see TDV in a different light. That being said, going forward I intend to judge and vote for TDV based solely on his activity here on Steemit. Just as I would for all Steemit users, so long as TDV remains a positive contributer to the Steemit community...
I wish him nothing but luck and future success with all of his posts.
Apologies if I offend @moonjelly, @dollarvigilante, @appleguy, or anyone else with this post.
Not offended at all and great post, much more insightful into the TDV persona than mine!
My intention was first to expose him for the fraud he is (or was, I really don't care). At the time he was flaunting his money, giving moral lessons to people about how to be a "steemillonaire", to work hard, to improve yourself...and I just couldn't contain myself. ALL the comments gave me fever and convulsions, I literally vomited blood. Well no I didn't, but I had a very big sneeze!
Anyway, remember that back then there was absolutely nobody saying anything bad about the whole thing (or his past). Then all of a sudden, me and a few others started the retaliation via comments and posts.
Now this led me to the second and most important idea behind my post. I realized that I had actually UPVOTED his post just to make curation rewards. This to me clearly signaled that this was a corrupted system no matter how you spin it, there was not a single downvote or flag at the time and very few negative comments if at all. I was sure many did the same but were just whoring themselves for curation rewards. And I understand, many here don't really have much, there are people from all over the world, to us some payouts are obscene and that's it. I know how the american way of life is and how it seems that any kind of success is valid. Well for many it gives a feeling of unjustice and powerlessness. Criticism it's not always a waste of time, we need introspection, we must ask questions and dig, accuse, that's how real progress is made most of the time. Do I really need to vote for this just to get 0.002 SP or whatever? Why Steemit whales continue to promote these kind of personalities? I know they bring more people, but do we care about quality or quantity? As it's all about money, I guess the latter. I don't see Reddit, Medium or Youtube needing to promote TDV when they first started.
The rest is history, many downvotes started to appear, a lot of dissent, etc. I'm not saying I was a pioneer since there were a lot of post and comments right at the same time, but we were definitely the first ones and we were few.
Bernie Sanders just took the final shot.
Super glad no offense was taken. I also hope it came across that I respect your decision, as well as the decision of others, to post regarding the matter.
I was in the same boat as you. I don't think I voted for TDV, but I most certainly had followed him because he was earning on his posts. What I was thinking I don't know? After reading your post I delved into it more and realized most of what he is peddling is a bit out there in this steemer's opinion. I won't be voting for him unless he posts some seriously good content.
With or without my vote he still has every right to be here and to earn insane payouts if that is what the community and whales want (and it appears they do). The system may be corrupt in that it incentivizes users to vote based on possible rewards rather than solely based on content, but really it comes down to just a handful of individuals and how they decide to vote. His message strikes a chord with many in the crypto/steemit community, so he is here to stay and he will continue to earn.
Without a doubt I think Steemit is more about money than content. The blogging platform is just a means to get people into the system. There are already plenty of places to get quality (I like Hubksi) but none of these pay users, so it is much easier for them to maintain integrity. Money taints everything it touches to some extent.
I'd write more on the subject but it's late here and I need to get some sleep.
Thanks @moonjelly
I 100% agree it's all about money and money taints everything if that's the only motivation. Honestly, while Steemit has plenty of great content creators, most of us came here because of the payouts and like it or not that's how this game is played.
I personally don't like it and I don't think it has a bright future if it continues on this path. As you said there are plenty of other platforms that do a much better job at everything (without payouts).
Steemit main weapon are those crazy gimmicky payouts, you take that away and it crumbles. Maybe it should've been marketed more like a social betting game than a blogging platform.
Hang on just a second there. What about me? I was offended by your post. I think you should write another one apologizing to me and explaining why nobody should care that you offended me. (I'll upvote that one, too.)
I like your style @ats-david
Berwick is a rock star. I've only met him in person once, and I've never given him any money, but he's given me free advice, and promoted anarcho capitalism, bitcoin and steemit like a champ. If hes made mistakes, so be it, we all have.
As I said in the post, I like how he is heavily promoting Steemit and thank him for that. Even with all of its initial success, Steemit still has a long way to go thus the free promotion is welcome.
For many reasons I appreciate this article. 1st - although we have different opinions on who the bad guy is, I came here for less filtering, more privacy, and broader views of issues.
I know there is a debate on this, but I truly dislike people trying to control the content with flagging!
Be mature enough to allow free speech even when you disagree. Debate is good. Flagging is bad. Thank you.
Hello @mynameisbrian
When I first came across that guy, scam was not the first thing I saw. Rather a dishonest, manipulative person that created an oversimplified version of the libertarian philosophy sprinkled with way too much tinfoil.
Here is something I wrote about him
https://steemit.com/anarchy/@kyriacos/why-i-respect-the-dao-hacker-but-not-the-dollarvigilante
Note how he downvoted me and his first comment. I would say, not a very bright fellow either.