When I first joined Steemit I was baffled from the behaviour of some whales. These guys seemed to be very well financially, yet they were fighting about silly things that didn't have to do with money. The battle was waged more about the politics of Steemit and how the platform was steered towards one path instead of another.
One whale, @berniesanders , caught my attention. Perhaps the reason was because we share a similar personality. Another one was because in my eyes he was massively misunderstood for his true intentions. Nonetheless, this is rather irrelevant. The point is that this guy could cut through the bullshit politics like a knife through hot butter. He was objective as to the money and community issue of Steemit and very few could handle his realism.
Remember. He is one of the biggest players in here. He could just sit back and enjoy the shit shows yet he put himself on the line in so many ways for the sake of building Steemit by his own standards. He was wrong sometimes but he remained true to his general scope.
The post is not about praising Bernie. I could post this as a personal account since I acted much the same in similar situations. I am mentioning Bernie as an example of someone who has absolutely no need for money, yet he is dedicating so much time and effort into making this platform a better place. He sacrificed (to my knowledge) at least one account where he burned plenty of bridges, all in an effort to steer Steemit towards a path he saw fit. This on and in itself begs the question: Would YOU act differently with your post behaviour if you were already well off financially?
If you really like Steemit like Bernie does or like I do, then the answer is no. Much like a family, we fight in here in a joined effort to make this place a better place. We do this because we care. On the other hand, there are those who use rhetorics and cheap politics, or remember to post when the price goes up. They also post relentlessly in order to milk the cow as fast and as much as possible. Those people do not give a shit about Steemit or the community. The will make shit posts, keep whale support and make money. Rinse and repeat as they see fit. They will never get involved on a personal level since this would endanger their benjamins. They will paint a smile, keep appearances and collect. Business as usual.
At the end of the day, this turns into a special version of the tragedy of the commons. Good players get pushed away due to the "negativity" and "toxicity" while "positive" players that keep appearances stick around and milk the system dry. We are losing the "good guys" and keeping the politicians, the leeches and the sensationalists. Ironically, this is exactly what happens in the real world as well. We should know better as Steemians since we are trying to avoid the mistakes of the outside world.
When I first came here, I got nuked from plenty of people, including whales for my stance and attitude towards some of these bad players. I was well off financially and really didn't care that much about rewards (I still care a bit). Thing is, I knew I was spending good time in my posts while most of the leeches where shitposting. I wanted and still want a "fair" acknowledgement and tried with my few connections to do so. Thing is, the sourness towards my person stuck. The politicians and scammers won. They are trending, daily.
Don't take my word about rewards. Bernie has effectively demonstrated that money becomes irrelevant when someone cares about Steemit. Actually, we might even fool ourselves that it is about the money but deep down our investment is not only financial but social and intellectual. In Steemit we invest not only time but part of ourselves. Personally, it fits my ideology and this is why I initially joined. I don't maintain any other social media accounts so my online life is pretty much in here. When I open my computer Steemit is on the first tab. When you see something unfair or dodgy is like you are watching someone dumping garbage in the center of your neighborhood. Those who care, complain and act on it.
For those who are new know that when you make enough money not to care about post rewards, the magical price numbers will start translating into acknowledgement. If you happen to start embracing Steemit like family then rewards in here will make little sense. A good community appraisal will mean so much more. Humans are social-animals. Not money-animals. We earn money in order to have a social connection.
ps: Don't assume that I am trying to milk votes from @berniesanders. I fought with Bernie as well when I first joined. I also fought with plenty of others like @ats-david who also sacrificed a lot in the line of making this a better place. In life, try and find those individuals that fight, knowing that they will be hurt financially. Those are not only the people you want to keep around in Steemit but also in real life. Those who are trying by all means to protect their financial rewards, those are the ones you want to stay the fuck away from. They will sell you off at the first sight of trouble.
Saying things by their name is still costly. Let's hope this trend changes sometime in the future. Don't get me wrong. We all love money. We are all here for the money. But rest assured that when you have enough money, even if you think it is about the money, it is not. It is about so much more.
