Are my gifts motivated by altruism or by self-interest? Are they investments or gifts?

The answer, to me, is both. You can be selfish and altruistic at the same time in non-zero sum games like Steemit.

Bartering needs to come back in a big way. When I first started out in my career, much of what I did was by barter in order to get started. There wasn't anyone who was going to pay me to build them a website, market for them, etc. when I had no track record. But they were willing to trade physical therapy, a dental checkup, etc.

~ Kevin