Press the Shiny Red Button
Press the shiny red button. Go ahead. Press it.
Did you press it? Go ahead. Just press it.
How many times did you press it? Write that number down. Or, at least keep it in your head.
Now, suppose that I told you that every time you pressed the button, $100 would appear in your bank account. Pretend that’s the case. You can press the button as often as you like. Go ahead. Press the shiny red button.
How many times did you press the button this time? Add that to the first count. Multiply that amount by 100. That’s how much money is in your bank account right now. Press the button some more, if you like. Each time you press the button, another $100 goes into your pretend bank account.
How much money is in your pretend bank account right now? Write that amount down.
Are you having fun pressing the button? It’s so easy, isn’t it? Just press the button for $100 in pretend money. That’s all. If this was for real, would you keep pressing the button? How often would you press that button? Pretend it’s real, and press it as many times as you like.
How much pretend money are you up to now? Make note of it, or at least keep it in mind.
Now, suppose that every time you pressed the button, a young child was killed and his or her parts were sold. The organs were sold off on the black market for transplant operations, the skin was made into leather, bones were ground into supposed medicinal powders, and the remaining meat and unusable parts were processed into animal feed. For each child, you earned a commission of $100.
How would you feel right now if that were true? While it’s true that you were deceived, you’d probably still feel guilty about it, right? After all, your actions were partly responsible for the deaths of how many children? No matter how you try to justify it–that you didn’t know–you’d still feel remorse, no?
And, that’s why you need to be careful of the promises of easy money. Sometimes, people, especially when the economy is tough, are lured by the promises of easy money. Just press a button. What could be easier? But, if you don’t maintain a healthy skepticism and aren’t careful, you may not know (until it’s too late) how many people you may be harming in your efforts to gain some easy money.
Be careful out there!
Hmm creepy, but very interesting concept. I only pressed the button 3 times, didn’t bother to click anymore after you said it was pretend money.