The scheme being indistinguishable from a ponzi doesn't make it a ponzi.
I'm not saying that shouldn't be the conclusion to be reached but in this case, if you've been told it's a ponzi and everyone else participating knows it's a ponzi, I don't see the harm of people joining in. Haven't there been multiple ponzi threads on Bitcointalk where people participated of their own volition?
Seriously? You're going to argue both that it might not be a Ponzi and that everyone knew it was a Ponzi? That both arguments are even superficially plausible demonstrates that it's a fraudulent scheme.
(BTW, did your avatar previously have a photograph of you wearing glasses or am I thinking of someone else?)
That was me.