To say that I am invested in this platform would be an understatement. It could be said that I have bet my livelihood on Steem. This is not wise and I don't recommend that others do it too, but I, against all advice I could receive, have been letting other opportunities go as I plunge into this deep sea filled with all kinds of maritime creatures.
However, there is still a big gap between my current earnings and the earnings that I would need to have if I were to make Steemit my only source of income in any country other than Venezuela. Here, I can live with 20-40 USD a month in a sort of comfortable way, including rent, food, internet, transportation and small random expenses. But in any other country, I would need between 300 and 600 USD a month just to live with slight comfort.
In the first month, I had been trying to make my Steem experience affordable, to be able to earn at least enough to live here in Venezuela, to feel that it was worthwhile. Now, I have accomplished this and much more through luck, effort and a lot of support from many people whom I hold dear in my heart. However, I am still earning less than 200 USD a month. Being far from it does not demotivate me. Instead, I feel the urge to keep working incessantly to upgrade my finances into international standards.
This is not easy, however, since I'm supposed to be leaving the country before July. So when Mr Dragos Roua asks me what I would do in the hypothetical situation where I got 1000 Steem in one day, my first thought is what others would do in my situation. I have a sustainable side earning and I still have some free time for a half-time job. What would any of my friends do? They, who are not on Steemit, would probably not value 1000 Steem as an investment.
They would jump at this chance, buy a plane ticket and leave the country at once. They'd use their savings to pay their rent while they look for a job and they would probably use it just in the way that we are expected to use money: save and spend. But for me, as I said, I have spent 4 months steadily building this account from nothing, from 15 SP delegation from Steemit into an account that is valued at over 400 Steem. I certainly know the potential of this little account, where I'm now earning more than 100 dollars a month with only 400 Steem, where I have friends, followers and communities where I'm valued.
Would I give up the chance to make this account grow and become even more affordable? I think that 1000 Steem would do wonders for my quest to earn enough to live in another country. And would they be better sitting in a bank account or being cycled through rent, food and a job that I don't enjoy? Or would they find their optimal place as the foundation for my account? I lean toward the second choice. If I got 1000 Steem tomorrow, I would not see it as an opportunity to run away. I would see it as an opportunity to cement the foundation on which my future would stand.
But let's not get excited so early. My computer is breaking down, I don't have a phone and have been trying to motivate myself to sell a few SBD to cover these needs. So let's first distribute 350 dollars to this cause. If I got 1000 Steem tomorrow, I would first use the equivalent of 200 USD to buy a slightly decent-ish used computer and a 150 USD phone. The rest, I would power up. Yup, I would sit on it and wait for it to grow.
But I can't let my hypothetical new SP stagnate. What would I do with it? SP is not the magical key of success.
So what would I do with my 900 remaining SP?
First, let us evaluate how useful it is. The thing I notice outright is that with my account, currently, 270 SP, my vote is 0.07. This is three times a Venezuelan minimum salary if I apply it once a day for a month. My university-graduated cousins (engineering) work for two or three times that amount. Most of my friends who are not on Steemit work for that exact amount or 25% more.
I am currently in the process of setting up Steem accounts for my family and friends in order to improve their livelihood. My vote, added to the @minnowsupport, @busy, @cervantes and other votes that I could round up for them, would probably double or triple their income outright. Just by coming into the site and posting once a day, I could multiply a few people's miserable salaries.
However, I can only do 10 full upvotes a day, and I already have a lot of people to whom I dedicate my autovotes.
So if I got 900 SP, it would probably mean that a miracle has come for all of those who stand around me. I would be able to give out, with just one vote a day, 13 minimum Venezuelan salaries. Take into account that most Venezuelans only earn 1 or 2 minimum salaries every month and that there are many who are dying from hunger. If I cut a 1200 SP vote in parts and distribute it among a few dozen people every day, you can imagine how much benefit that would bring.
This, in part, would be awesome for my image and I would probably bring more eyes and make my account grow just by giving. So I think that this would be the best outcome.
Oh, well, it's good to dream. I probably won't be getting 1000 Steem tomorrow. ;P But oh how sweet it is to dream.
This is post #2 for the 30-day writing challenge hosted by @dragosroua