Steemit is a strange place.
On the one hand, many of the people on Steemit espouse humanist virtues and readily discuss an incipient future society -
fairer, kinder and with more open-minded values - of which Steemit is sometimes touted as a forerunner.
On the other hand, in terms of disparity of wealth, Steemit couldn't look more like America in the mid 1800s (or really, a microcosm of American wealth disparity today) if it tried. And as Steemit gains in popularity, and the masses head west to the digital gold rush, this disparity can only increase.
Many "Whales" - especially top "Whales" - are either early adopters or individuals with the real life resources to directly enhance their steemit accounts with capital.
I'm sure a number of "Whales" have risen serendipitously to the top of the food chain, even having arrived relatively recently, by working the system like mad. I say this is serendipitous not to belittle their efforts, but to highlight the luck involved in every rise, no matter the circumstances. But, on the whole, I would venture to guess most high-end "Whales" are not members of this latter group.
There is nothing wrong with this.
In fact, it is one of the underlying truths of human history - one we teach our kids everyday - whoever gets there first wins. That is a fact.
Below the "Whales" are, roughly speaking, the rest of us. This also parallels the situation in America in the 1850s and today. But, frankly, I always find it bizarre when people talk about wealth imbalance as a solely capitalistic evil. The fact is, in all of human history, since the concept of "currency" was invented, wealth has naturally accrued in a select few, and "the wealthy" are usually those who get there first, and have sufficient gumption, foresight and material or social opportunity to act on their good timing.
Honestly, I would bet money this sort of thing happened even before currency was invented. It is no stretch of common sense to imagine a bunch of hunter gatherers lining up to trade with the first person to figure out rudimentary farming.
It would come as no surprise to me if, before we even conceived of currencies, we intuitively created monopolies.
And now there's Steemit, and steem, and to a less ironic degree the rest of the cryptocurrency craze. We've all signed up for this experiment in pushing the boundaries of the illusion that is currency. Yet we find ourselves immersed in an almost timeless paradigm, wherein the rich leverage their richness to enhance their richness and the poor, even banded together, make few inroads.
I don't say this with any judgment, either of whales or average users. Nor, as I will momentarily prove, do I hold myself above the clamoring for wealth and attention which we all want. Everyone of us is only human. The great majority of us, if given the opportunity, on a one to one level, would prove to be good people. We would, if a child fell, bend over to pick them up. We would, if faced with suffering we had the immediate ability to stop, attempt to stop it.
Yet, at the end of the day, we are still in it for ourselves, and who can blame us: we come in alone and we go out alone. Until our selfishness changes - really, truly, to a man, woman and child, disappears- the wheel of history will turn again and again and again.
Fact is, I ain't gonna live to see it. I live here, now, and I think, for four days work, I've made some solid content and intend to keep doing so whatever the case may be.
But of course, of course, profit is my motive. Yes, I have enjoyed writing for the first time in a long while. Yes, it gives me a sense of self-worth when someone says they like what I wrote. And it's all a better use of my free time than I was ever making
of my free time before.
But, at the end of the day, I want a 2 bedroom apartment on the upper west side. To get that kind of thing, you either need a lot of luck, a lot of work, or a lot of gumption. Or all three. And no matter what, we're all trying to get the attention of the whales. Not just on Steemit, but forever before, and possibly forever more. The whale hunt is inevitable.
So with that in mind
@ned @dan @abit @hendrikdegrote @thejohalfiles @smooth @xeldal @roadscape @arhag @jamesc1 @tombstone @riverhead @adm @pharesim @engagement @fyrstikken @trafalgar @steemed @wackou @fuzzyvest @enki @transisto @recursive @dantheman @glitterfart @gavvet @slowwalker @donkeypong @thisvsthis @julianita @kushed @bhuz @nanzo-scoop @abdullar @arama @summon @fminerten @nextgencrypto @skan @curie @onceuponatime @roelandp @hr1 @snowflake @ramta @freeyourmind @inv @cryptoctopus @someonewhoisme @neoxian @steempty @kevinwong @lifewordmission
Get on over here - It's a firesale of all original, quality content, and I plan on delivering more every day!
There's my pop-sci blog, soon to be dealing with the conundrum of light's speed.
Check out Piqued #1
Check out Piqued #2
Then there's my series about the exploration of wild mushrooms - most recently an interactive workshop to teach readers how to identify mushrooms themselves
Check out The Mushroomer #1
Check out The Mushroomer #2
Check out The Mushroomer #3
For something with more whimsy, there's my often ridiculous reviews of your favorite candies - cause why the hell not?!
Check out the Twix Review
Check out the Junior Mints Review
Check out the Old Timey Candy Trial
Check out Oh Henry! Story
Check out the Mallo Cups Review
And finally a small bucket of miscellaneous material. Particularly relevant to whales is my commentary on the current state of taxation on Steem based on the most recent IRS notices.
A Taste of Travel
Tax Implications Of Steem
Some Shit About Coffee
My hope is to keep producing at this quality and at, roughly, this pace for the foreseeable future. I may not have the digital luck - but I'm trying on the hardwork and gumption. Now excuse me while I tag all the highest payout tags.
DBER
Hi, this @ mention spamming isn't cool, and usually earn's my flag, please don't do it.
This is actually thoroughly enjoyable. Please keep it up. Don't let others discourage you.
There is nothing wrong with the post itself, but there is no need to @ tag mention every whale. I don't appreciate it.
Edit: well ok, I don't like the post, but that isn't enough reason to flag it, if it isn't spam.
I understand the problem that @ mention spamming obviously presents if used too frequently. And I see the slope is slippery as far as allowing its use without any guidelines. But, at the same time, insofar as steemit is a community of sorts, which rely on the interest and attention of its most esteemed members, it seems to me you guys at the very top are by your nature, being there, the equivalent of public figures IRL.
Now, in real life, if a lunatic wants to call a senators office over and over again, the senator never has to deal with it. Some poor secretary sits at desk and answers the phone all day. I understand that here, if this were a thing that happened all the time, it would drive you crazy. But, I can think of two legitimate reasons to use such a tool:
The first, would be as a form of social protest. I can imagine a scenario where the "proletariat" equivalent steemit user bands together and takes the only action against their bourgeois overlords which they are actually empowered to take - namely annoyance.
The second, though, and the one I hope I fall into, is to use this kind of mass call when you actually have something of value to show all those people. Obviously that's hugely presumptuous and totally subjective, but in terms of the equities at play, it seems a fair trade.
I'm interested in your thoughts.
My thoughts are this. I don't like it. You won't get my upvote from it. I promise you that. You are very likely to receive my flag. I'm trying to be nice and not flagging you this time, but next time you do this, you will definitely get flagged.
Also, it happens that I lend voting power to minnowsupport. I keep seeing this account upvoting spam like this, I may be force to pull my delegation from this account. So you risking the minnowsupport account getting weaker.
In short, don't do it.
Well, certainly for the sake of minnowsupport, I won't. And of course I appreciate your discretion in not flagging it already.
But, with an understanding now that I won't do this again - do you think there's any validity in my position?
(As a side note, to avoid any risk whatsoever to minnow support, I will remove myself entirely from it - and indeed, have just now left the discord server.)
Doesn't this interaction itself support my conclusions?
Your post is a bunch of socialist tripe, and you have no understanding of economics, and it stings me that my precious voting power lent to minnowsupport is even giving you a few pennies for this post. Even without the @ spam, I would not have upvoted this.
You and other minnows with your attitude are ungrateful.
What are your conclusions again? That there shouldn't be whales in Steemit? Then all posts will be making 0 cents, since there will be no money to fund the posts, but don't let facts get in the way of your narrative.
No, now come on. First off, I'm not a socialist and this is not a socialist post. I specifically said, and MEANT, that I had no judgment of any kind, good or bad, for whales, minnows or anyone else who takes part in the rat race. My point was only that even though a lot of people on here espouse sort of this new age, radical position that somehow steemit is above plain old "sell yourself for a penny" capitalism, they're fundamentally wrong.
I did use a bunch of pictures from the turn of the 20th century which were used to support socialist and communist positions, and the terms proletariat and bourgeois - not because I'm a socialist, but for the same reason those images and terms were successfully used to foment revolution in the first place: They speak to timeless truths about humanity.
Unlike some, I have no illusions about humanity, or our ability to live in some Star Trek perfection. That's why I called it a rumination - because it would be funnier and more effective when the whole thing revealed itself to be, in effect, a used car ad.
I don't. Steemit is extremely capitalist, and that's what I love about it. It's not star trek perfection and I make no bones about it.
It must feel great to have this much power. Shame on us minnows for disturbing you.
steemtroller...name checks out