Absolutely 100% without a doubt in my mind - read my reply to fiatbad above :)

Humanity 100-1000 years from now will view this time period as the beginning of the new age of civilization.... I have no idea how long this period lasts - but we all have the opportunity to "carpe diem" and build the future we want to see upon this protocol we call Bitcoin...

Your mention of no serious alternatives is a good one (and reminds me of Bitcoin T.I.N.A. (There is no Alternative) from a few years ago - though he may be back?)....

An alternative will pop up in the future - of that you should be assured.... The world is full of very smart people doing very smart things and much like the Black hat/White hat hackers working on Bitcoin right now - there is a certain beauty in the world of these dichotomies and an elegance to the dance of good and evil. (Though I do not believe in such absolutes as good or evil - I do believe in the perspective or consensus of what humanity considers good or evil)

Humans on both sides of Bitcoin will likely be fighting over it for a very long time - I believe we are at the beginning of the next chapter of growth and flourishing as a result of Bitcoin overwriting the base layer of value communication for us all. The resulting freedoms will allow humans to flourish in ways only dreamed of by our ancestors.

I think as a bear you can look in the mirror and ask yourself what world you want to work/build towards... and work towards that.

Afterall - all of us are nothing but the reflections of all the input we receive from those around us.

Fuck NVK - Fuck Coinkite - Fuck Cold Card

Coinkite had their chance, had their ride and they let the horse out of the gate....

They lost site of what is important - they fell back into FIAT traps - FIAT incentives

Bitcoin is the way - Don't fall into the FIAT traps

So I attempt to live in as non-judgmental/control-free manner as possible.... and that is often very weird to people :)

WTF - I get the idea but No…just No

(And also, I don't understand why I'd ask another person to hold my bitcoin just so I can't get at it for some amount of time...)

This - this - this.....

If the hold point is because you don't trust yourself to hold your Bitcoin safely for 5 years...you probably should work on that...just another beautiful feature of Bitcoin as a bearer asset....he who holds it...controls it... and when you give that up to someone else?

Buyer beware

great - I had to look up pedantically and now I am reconsidering how I view a certain someone I work with who threw this word around like candy once upon a time...though they use it less now???

Not to my liking - It is way too wordy and not enough bite!

At least that is my sat worth.....

Hey there - I run a Bitcoin Meet-up in Madison, WI :)

and much like LeVar Burton on Reading Rainbow (back in the 80's or 90's)....you don't have to take my word for it! You can verify it by looking up Bitcoin Meet-up Madison, WI.

Now to answer your questions....
1 - Say Hi....or Howdy, Hey, Hello, What up....etc...
2 - Generally speaking I think your problem may be keeping people quiet vs. getting them talking....Bitcoiner's Have lots to say :)
3 - This kind of just comes naturally...
4 - I have been helping to keep this meet-up running for about 3 years now and I rarely have talking points (as I like to keep things flowing naturally about what other people want to talk about)(though now the others in the group have decided they want more of an agenda or talking points....this is totally not needed though
5 - as for don'ts.... Don't Shit-coin!!!

Remember this is simply my recollection of how the meet-ups we have been organizing have been going...We are not trying to drive numbers...We are not getting a kick-back from anyone - We don't ask for anyone to pay for anything we decide to provide to others - We ensure to ask everyone to provide input to the others and we keep it Bitcoin - Not to say peeps don't bring up altcoins, we just don't focus on them!

We talk about everything happening in the Bitcoin ecosystem and stay humble and stack sats!

If you are trying to drive attendance you will likely need a different model -

How long do you see it taking for the FIAT value stored in Real Estate to move to Bitcoin?

42....cuz why not :)

War does not make one feel safe...unless you are that guy from Palantir (or whatever) that was saying the only way to feel safe is by ensuring those that would do you harm are scared?

I mean when is humanity going to figure out that we are only hurting ourselves?

This is why I Bitcoin!!!

When we are using Bitcoin to communicate value to each other and nothing else...then we will have a civilization that rewards ideas that positively move humanity forward through time...vs...our current situation.

There should be no good byes....just see you later's :) I don't remember who said this but I like it...

I guess when I think about my workplace I think about just walking out and never going back so there doesn't need to be any big thing when it is time....

It just is moving into another period of life

I have had a number of truly profound experiences in my life...

I fell to the ground from the top of a 20ish foot tall pine tree and walked away unscathed...

Sharing a hallucination...

The birth of my children...

The realization that we are all human and we get to choose who we share our journey with...

and of course.... Bitcoin

Also un-researched information...though I did read "Chasing the Scream" which is a book about addiction and I thought it offered good info...

I think society is looking at many of our "systems" coming to collapse under their own weight over the coming years...to maybe decades?

I am a weirdo in that I think all drugs should be legal and should be produced in a manner that is safe and reliable. Potency is something that should be verified and provided to the users so they are able to make educated decisions about what they are using.

I also believe the "stigma" we have created over drug use is a self-fullfilling negative prophecy in which users feel cast out from society and left alone to make their own ill-informed decisions on things. This perpetuates a cycle of more use due to feeling cast out and eventually leads to entire swaths of like-minded castaways that grow and grow until they become a blight on society and due to our years of mind-fucking the rest of society - those in power simply convince the rest of society that cutting these parts of society off is ok?

Anyway I am getting a bit off topic - It does come back to the "control system" that is put in place being out of alignment with the idea that we should be doing all we can as the "human race" to perpetuate our species...which includes acknowledging that as individuals we all have a right to do what we deem is best for ourselves, as long as it isn't harming others....that last part is the tough part....what one considers harming another?

Thank you :)