If the point is to convince other Redditors to pay for something scammy, who the hell parts with any amount of money on the basis of something posted on Reddit?
I know you jest, but pirates - real ones - were among the most honest people there was with one another. They were honest mainly because if they weren't, they quickly walked the plank.
Also, pirates shared the loot a lot more equally than modern capitalists share the wealth today, and they set up one of the first form of mutualised social security system in the world. You can read more about it in this article.
In short: I would trust Reddit pirates a lot more than I'll ever trust Reddit itself.
Leader on a piracy subreddit does something unethical.
Reminds me of that scene in one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies where Capt. Jack Sparrow does something which fucks over the other main characters, and they’re all shocked and he just shrugs & says “pirate.”
I used to sub to that community before had to jump ship. Because it devolved in ask how to fix this and that why is this not working shit. But I am kinda surprised that a person would pay another person to get their posts to the top.. Kind of makes you wonder what other subs are doing the same thing and not getting caught or swept under the rug.
Mods should be paid through official channels, for the same reason legislators should be (and are) paid. It's a lot easier to bribe someone who's desperate.
That applies to Lemmy, too, although I don't really know who'd pay them.
Legislators get paid really well but they still take "lobbying expenses" and "donations" in exchange for votes and bills. Getting rid of Citizens United and setting up a proper nonpartisan anti corruption enforcement agency is still absolutely necessary to prevent this from happening.