Yes, it does have to have a monetary gain to help promote the ripple protocol on a community level.
We're all here for our own monetary benefit. Anyone who claims anything otherwise is disingenuous.
You may find it disingenuous, but not all of us are gambling junkies. Some of us actually want to see the tech bring real world change to people around the globe. The fact that we can type in a forum shows we already have more than most. You have a right to be self-centered in your view of the tech but you know what they say when you assume.
Interesting but can it be actually used ? Can I , in fact, send argentine pesos to my friend in Argentina even though I have dollars ? If so, how? What are the steps?
There is nothing preventing the Ripple protocol from doing what you suggest. The tech works. What lacks in these early stages, is liquidity and as Tokeweed mentioned, gateways. Remittence is one of the key things Ripple is designed to do, so as the infrastructure, market makers, etc., come online, you're going to love Ripple.
Steps are just like sending from a Bitcoin wallet, except you can choose to send pesos with USD. Real simple. You could actually view the lack of liquidity for your currency pairs as an opportunity to make a market. Sounds like money to be made if there's true demand for USD ->Pesos.
Question:
Could ripple somehow be used as a workaround for the Chinese to acquire crypto's?
All you need is a Chinese gateway or a way for them to get money to any gateway. Then they can move into whatever currency there is liquidity for.