I used your trick once too. I asked my small Son what I should buy and he said "Mooncoin" and I'd never even mentioned it to him so that was very weird, so I bought some. I must admit that Mooncoin does look like a load of cr*p, but hey ... in this market where no rules apply, there is no reason why it won't also go up three or four times soon. That's what happens when you have a market that makes little sense, like the crypto market now.
I am in my 40s with children so we both have our wits about us.
I agree with your points however with one caveat, even in the dotcom bubble many good companies survived and laid the foundation for Google and Facebook.
As long as your shirt is not lost in the process, EMC2 is worthwhile of peoples money simply because it is offering something others are not - hope that the money will be re-used by EMC2 to further mankind.
And that is not the best part. EMC2 (like Bitcoin) will lay the foundation for others to follow, it won't follow, it looks like it is now going to lead and blaze a trail for other coins, maybe Unicef, RedCross, Cancer-research. If EMC2 prove it can be done, it will be repeated down the line by other, bigger charitable foundations.
That is the gift EMC2 is providing right now, a spotlight on things other than just blatant financial speculation.