There's a little automod response called "Act As if..." which essentially refers to 'Act as if you have a pair.' My not-at-all-serious proposal of adding another one is this: "Think like.." as in 'Think like a vendor' or 'Think like a market admin.'
Much of the FUD, spread by well-intentioned individuals, is the result of people having the wool pulled over their eyes. The true culprits, say vendors, may not necessarily even have bad intentions. I'll take this opportunity to provide a couple of examples of 'Think Like':
For argument's sake, I'm a vendor who sees two viable DNM choices. One charges 4% of my transactions as a fee. The other charges 2%. Even if I'm a small-timer, that shit adds up. I have a vested interest in trying to drive as much foot traffic as possible to the market which is more advantageous to me. So, I make a post (or convince someone with a solid posting history to do so) in which I blast the 4% market as being insecure, under LE control, etc. I should probably include some 'proof' and I'll pepper it with enough facts, or seeming facts, to add credibility to it. Now, well-intentioned people will pick this up and run with it. Thanks guys. Thanks to a lack of technical-saavy and/or just basic self-preservation instinct which overrides the former (not badmouthing...it is what it is), you guys just made my day. Thanks again, guys. Shit, maybe there are too many calm, experienced DNM users here. Okay, let me go kick a little coin to people who specialize in creating/utilizing shill accounts to drown out that group of people while down-voting them into the abyss. Okay, now I'm good.
For argument's sake, I'm a market admin. Oooooooh boy. Look out Belize, here I come! Okay, I need to get the money rolling in first. Damn, it looks like other people had this idea first and are offering the same damned thing--a place to buy and sell illegal shit with a small cut from each transaction. I need to be different. I'll add some security or maybe some convenience features. Goddamn it, the other sites already have those too. I know, I'll pick a cooler name for my market! No, that won't work. Some of the best sites had or have names that mean who-the-fuck-knows and they're doing just fine. Okay, fuck all this...smear campaign time. Even though I've always hated those asshole vendors, like that guy above, who try to manipulate people to their own advantage. It works. Yep, that's a pretty solid playbook. I'll just do that, but spend even more money. I mean, private jets aren't cheap so if I'm in for a penny, I'm in for a pound.
Now, could LE be behind some of these things we hear about? Sure, but there are plenty of other plausible (and far, far more probable) reasons behind just about everything you read or hear. These become more apparent when you 'Think like...'
There's an important phrase that we use here, and think it's time that you all learned it. Act as if. You understand what that means? Act as if you are the fucking President of this firm. Act as if you got a 9" cock. Okay? Act as if.
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