This is my first draft of a letter to Mr. Schumer. Any suggestions/critiques?
Dear Mr. Senator:
I write today in response to your recent announcements regarding Silk Road...
Respectfully,
Ian Maxwell
Notes:
- I've avoided calling bitcoin a "currency" since this is likely to lead to poorly-thought out claims of counterfeiting.
- Likewise, I've avoided any of the smash-the-state rhetoric so common around here. This guy is the state, so I don't imagine he'll be very receptive.
- Instead I'm using the smash-the-corporate-machine rhetoric that leftists prefer.
- My central point is that Bitcoin has legal uses and that there are many reasons for a law-abiding citizen to want to use it.
I would avoid challenging the Senator to campaign for Bitcoin's destruction, as you do at the end of your letter. That seems a tad too defiant, and I don't think that is the idea you want to convey. Instead, I would simply implore him to treat the Silk Road and Bitcoin as two entirely separate issues, and to judge each independently.
Further, I would recommend that instead of sending this off as the letter of an individual, change all references of "I" into "We", and allow members of this community to join you in a petition by adding their names to it. A forceful statement from the larger community would be far more powerful, in my opinion. I realize that there are many people in this community that would not be willing to sign such a petition, but I'm sure there are a number of us that would.