How is all monetary value assigned to any currency? Belief, faith, trust and loyalty.
From dollars to doichemarks, gold to cryptocurrencies, it's all the same: we create and assign a monetary value.
In currencies created by countries, the value is supposed to be based on a representation of the labor of that country through an economy to give value to the currency. If no one was working to create products and services, the backing of the currency would be non-existent and the currency would not hold any value. Countries can also devalue their currency by printing more of it into existence to misrepresent the ratio of currency to labor of the market.
Many cryptocurrencies don't have this real world backing. They are just "mined" by computers, that take processing power and energy to create, so they are limited more than a fiat currency that can be printing into oblivion. So they have a value because of this restriction.
If a cryptocurrency does not create something real, like app products, or offer services, then there is no real backing behind it other than it being a restricted supply-currency that can't be exploited like other fiat currencies that can simple be created into existence without limit.
Here is where STEEM comes in.
STEEM has a real world value: content from Steemit
Content isn't mined automatically, it has to be created by the Power of Consciousness through the magic of our word of mouth, the Art of Communication, Meaningful Speech. This requires HUMAN potential energy to be used, not simply automated computer and electrical energy. This requires time, energy, effort, dedication, determination and persistence on our part. Not simply relegating the work to automatic systems, like a robot. Steemit creates real world value through human labor.
People on the Steemit platform create content. This content has a certain value that people in society attribute to it. The value of Steemit is achieved through the reputation of the platform, that reflects into the cryptocurrency of STEEM tokens.
Without content, STEEM would be like many of the other altcoins that have no real world backing to give it value.
What would give Steemit the highest reputation and therefore value?
Maybe being a sports platform? Maybe being an economic platform? Maybe being an art platform? Maybe being a photography platform? Well, that all depends on what people in society value. I have my own criteria on what real high value quality is.
People for centuries seem to prefer the bread and circus pleasure trap of entertaining "light" fun and not thinking, not the deep effortful hardship of seeking, thinking and learning about important truths in our lives. We want fodder, and we get fodder.
People can value the lowest form of information that does nothing to raise consciousness to higher levels of understanding themselves and the world, or they can actually value truth that matters and seek to elevate themselves to improve their individual and collective condition and quality of life on this planet.
Garbage in, garbage out. Quality in, quality out. Everything we input into ourselves, either physically (body) or metaphysically (consciousness), affects us. We become a reflection of what we consume. We need to choose more wisely.
Information is power. Restricting information has power. Secrecy is valuable. That is what governments and intelligentsia (CIA, MI5, CSIS, Mossad, etc.) do. They hide, occult and encrypt information to prevent everyone from knowing what is really going on in reality. They trade in information and have power over our lives. Our desires for lower consciousness consumption fits well into their domination over our lives.
I have said in a post called "Steemit Succeeds if We Make it Succeed - Analysis to Help Yourself and Steemit Grow in Quality", the real value of information of the highest quality, is information that can help us better ourselves and the world.
This is what I KNOW as an objective fact of reality. If we want things to get better in life, we need knowledge to empower ourselves. Important truths about ourselves and the world is the most valuable form of knowledge. I know this. It's demonstrable. It can be verified. It's how things work in reality.
To think we can improve the condition and quality of our life, other's lives, and the world, through focusing our time, energy and attention on self-gratification or on low quality information, is foolishness from ignorance. Not enough people have spent time thinking deeply to understand how life works to "get this".
Steemit is a platform that I am seeking to do this through. I have tried Facebook. I want Steemit to be better and greater, because it actually rewards people who create content, rather than simply exploit them to use their energy and currency of time and attention to reap all the money for themselves (i.e. Facebook). People don't understand the potential value that Steemit can bring for themselves, others and the world.
Do you now see how Steemit actually has real world value through the content it has, created by us, the community, and how that reputation and value is judged by society to assign reputation and value to it? If no one cares for truth and higher quality information, then that will not be valued in Steemit. If people value low quality information that does nothing to help us learn about ourselves and the world, then so be it, and that's what Steemit will become.
If we can create a higher value quality platform, we have the potential to alter, affect, influence and change the consciousness of people in the world and as a result change the world! This is the potential power of the future of Steemit as I see it. This is what I am trying to create on Steemit.
Steemit is a free market. We, the content creators, determine what it will become. We, the content creators, determine the reputation and value that society will judge it upon. We, as curators, will determine who gets valued and rewarded on the platform. Steemit succeeds if we make it succeed.
But, what do we want it to succeed into? More entertainment and "fun" pleasure for people to stay at the same level of consciousness, like all the mainstream TV and popular Intern sites do? Another ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, Facebook, Instagram, etc.? Or do we want things to actually get better for ourselves, others and the world? This is a serious question people need to ask themselves. This is a life changing question. It completely changed my life once I understood the supreme importance of truth in life.
People on the platform succeed and are rewarded if we give them recognition for the content they create. I give people value and recognition when they provide information that helps to inform, educate and therefore possibly elevate others in quality knowledge, awareness and understanding of themselves, others and the world. The power and potential future of Steemit is in our hands. I don't get to choose what the platform content will be, we all do.
But... imagine if Steemit was a platform for high quality knowledge and valuable truth about ourselves and the world. Imagine the impact this would have on the world. Imagine how valuable that would be...
STEEM isn't recognized as having much value right now, because people don't understand what gives it value. Many people now, are turning on the platform through their ignorance of these dynamics. I will explain more of these dynamics below.
About the Complaining, Whining and Blaming Steemit and the Whales
When I first joined Steemit, I recognized how revolutionary this platform is. I still do.
Some people are not liking how things are going recently, and they are complaining about how "unfair" it is: that they don't get enough upvotes, that whales don't upvote them, that the whales have too much "power", that the system is not setup right, that the whales should be giving their power away, on and on the complaining and blaming goes. There is a lot of whale dislike (or hate) going around in conversations about Steemit and Steemit posts.
What if your content is not valued by others? What if your content is not that valuable in terms of quality information and truth that matters, as I have described above? Who is to blame then? Start to look inwards, and point the finger at yourself.
But regardless of that.... Let's get something straight here...
Free Market Dynamics
In a free market system, if you got in on a project or company early, did the ground work and leg work to get it started, then you will be in a better position if that project succeeds, with your time and effort paying off. In a company, if you invest early on, and it takes off in success, then you will reap the rewards exponentially from your initial investment. You will have power and influence in that project, system or company.
This is what the whales have. They came in early, got things running early on, and now they are the major share holders with the most influence and power in the company. That is how things work.
You don't see people in the business world complaining about how Facebook or Google early-starters are stealing from people, ripping people off, have too much power, etc. This is how investment and early positions in a startup work. You take a risk, and if it fails you fail hard, and if it succeeds you can go "to the moon" like a rocket.
Working Hard But Not Being Recognized
Many people work hard, and create great things (or not), and are often not recognized or compensated for it "fairly" or whatever. Life isn't always fair. Things can go your way, or they can go against you sometimes. That's the unfairness of life, there is good and bad, fair and unfair. Not everything works out the way you want, wish, desire, or expect it to.
Don't get too entitled about what you think you "deserve", and take out your frustration on those who didn't recognize your work. Entitlement is big problem these days, especially from the "socialist" "liberal" leftist mindsets. So many people expect things to be granted to them and get pissed off when they don't get what they want. Does that sound like a juvenile child attitude? Well, it is!
You can either keep going at it, and hope the next time you do something, it gets more attention, more visibility, and more value recognized for it. Or you can quit. In either case, you can also whine, moan, groan, grunt, bitch, complain, and blame others for not giving you what you expect you are entitled to get from them.
I sometimes have posts about great topics, real high quality work to help people learn about consciousness and existence, themselves and the world, go "nowhere" in terms of payout and reaching people, while other posts do less to help humanity yet get much more visibility and payouts.
But, do you see me writing posts about how unfair this is? Do you see me bashing the platform or the whales? Do you see me complaining? Nope. I understand how things are in a free market, and that the whales might not see my posts, might be busy, or they might not even care about the content. Just because I put time, effort and energy into a post about a really important topic for people to understand, doesn't mean I'm going to get rewarded for it.
For example, today I posted about what truth is and it's importance. This is an extremely important topic to understand what truth is so that we are all on the same page when talking about this basic aspect of understanding reality. But, it hardly got noticed by the more powerful players on the platform when I was writing this ($8). Now, its up a decent amount for the real world value it contains to help people understand about reality, existence and truth, the basic foundational axiom for progressing in accurate perception of the world. If it got more attention, through more upvotes, then it would gain more visibility, and reach more people so that they could learn from it. This is just an explanation to show how things don't always go my way, what I expect, etc., but I don't go taking it out on Steemit or the power players. I also made an embarrassing dyslexic goof error and put "if Life" instead of "in Life" in the title, which I hate messing up on my posts and now it's forever stuck in the link... LOL.
My first goal is to spread important knowledge. It's a personal responsibility to share what one knows about important aspects of reality so that others may learn about it and do the same, and improve our collective condition. I have been doing this for years on Facebook and on my own site with no monetary reward for my work. Steemit is a great place for me to finally get a monetary exchange for the work I produce. I highly value this platform, saw it's revolutionary potential, and that's why I put $150 of BTC of my first ever BTC purchase into Steem Power, my second day here after getting a $0 payout for my first post. And I later added another $150.
I'm just explaining how I know what my content is worth, and how it doesn't always get matched up in payout compared to other posts, yet I don't go complaining about it. I know what it's worth in terms of how it can help the individual and the world evolve in consciousness to greater understanding and change things for the better. That's what I know is important to head into the future on this planet. That's what I look for in content to curate. That's why I create the content I do, because it has real world value to change things for the better.
The way Steemit and STEEM was created makes it the most valuable cryptocurrency, but it just started. STEEM has the potential to be the most valuable cryptocurrency if we make it that. What do we choose?
I didn't even talk about the market potential in other things like products, stores, exchanges, and so many other things that are out of my depth. I can only speak about what I know and can demonstrate. I have more to learn on those subjects.
Remember:
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes
You just might find
You get what you need
Thank you for reading! I appreciate the knowledge reaching more people. Take care. Peace.
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Author: Kris Nelson / @krnel
Contact: steemit.quality@gmail.com
Date: 2016-09-17, 5pm EST