The Steem network is a decentralized free market. There are some governance elements within the code, but by and large, it's a nearly perfect free market. Libertarian, anarchist, whatever you may call it.
A lot of people seem to "believe in anarchy", but often don't seem to be aware the rules of the game. So, when the time comes, there's some extreme butthurt. Anarchy is all cool... till it bites them in the arse. Reality check, that's exactly what you signed up for. Indeed, anecdotally, rampant butthurt is Steem's emotion-du-jure, and defines what it means to be a Steemian. Maybe there would be less butthurt incurred if you adjust your expectations to reality. With that said, here's how a free society works -
- No one gives a rat's ass about you. You're completely irrelevant.
- You're owed rat shit. You're entitled to absolutely nothing.
- There's no concept of fairness or justice at all. Any cries about what is fair and unfair is totally irrelevant.
- Everyone can say what they want, upvote what they like, and downvote what they don't. If you accept the upvotes, you are obliged to accept the downvotes.
- Scammers and criminals have an inherent advantage over altruistic, peaceful people.
- They can and will abuse you, and there's not one damn thing you can do about it.
- Except lick some whale balls. They control this market absolutely.
7b) There's zero correlation between pending payout and "quality of content". Pending payout is directly proportional to how well you can shill yourself to the whales. - So the next time you're butthurt about perceived "unfairness", better power up some Steem to set things right.
Are you OK with all of that? Then you can call yourself a true anarchist. If your expectations are aligned, then perhaps you'll never be butthurt.
If, however, that sounds like a brutal world - well, tough luck fellas. There's no free lunch here. Except for the whale balls.
On a serious note, there's some relief from the brutal free market. Communities are incoming, and I expect some really well moderated, benevolent communities to form. Your favourite communites be your shelter. That won't save you from whale whims, though. For that, the Steem community can get together and take action. If that doesn't work, discuss laws in code, that may attempt at a free market with less injustice. These changes in laws / constitution are expressed as hardforks that your elected government (witnesses) may choose to adopt. It's an intriguing experiment. (Or just build a judiciary system like EOS plans to.)
"The first criterion that defines freedom is the ability to deprive others of their freedom. What would be the point of being free and what, in concrete terms, would it mean, if one could not trample on the freedom of others? That is the primary expression of freedom." (Foucault, M, 1976 'Society must be defended' p. 157).
This somehow seemed like a quote I had to dig up and share.
The same principle seems to apply to anarchism whose tenants require freedom and an acceptance that there are winners and there are losers. In an anarchistic society those who wield power deserve to do so and they are not supposed to be held accountable via justice or fairness or some such nonsense.
Note: If you are an anarchist who believes that you should not be subject to rules and control, and you are, then suck it up. Clearly those who make the rules are more powerful then you and they can do what they like right?
Great post! :)
Anarchy doesn't mean you are free from rules, only that there are no rulers: an-archy, no-rulers. That's what it means. It doesn't say no-rules. Rules can be created by a community that agrees to them and upholds them, with consequences for their violation enacted by the whole community, not one or a few ruling over everyone else where they can create and violate any rules they want. Just like one person can enact consequences on another's wrong-actions in anarchy, a community can do the same.
One person's freedom ends where another's begins. Freedom doesn't come without consequences when people can act. Unfortunately, on Steemit you can't act physically onthe same level, the ability to act comes with SP. Those who have the most SP have the most ability to act.
And where does another's freedom begin? Their private property? Because most anarchists are against private property.
I find anarchismt to be a tedious long form to get around to being a benevolent authoritarian. There are of course rules - the rules made by the community. And there is of course inherent tyranny in this - potentially more so than in alternative systems. Why? Because who is responsible? Nobody in particular, yet everyone who accepted and are enforcing the rules.
Moral laws are the rules. Rules of conduct for behavior based on how behavior creates harm to other beings. Freedom of behavior ends when you create harm for others. People, like false "anarchists", who believe the fruits of your labor are not yours... are confused. It violates moral law, the rules we can easily recognize and agree to because they are how things are morally.
You perfectly described what the stemit platform is and how it works. You just forgot to mention one small detail. Everybody is free to leave at any moment.
It's difficult to leave behind potential $$$. Greed is all-consuming.
Greed, such an infantile faculty. Goes to show just how devolved this species is, and the statement that it would be in any way "all-consuming" evident solely of your own ignorance into factual processes.
In short; successfully indoctrinated.
Congratulations.
This is the thing - what will happen to Steemit if too many people leave - or if everyone who creates content rather than scamming of shilling leaves? If that happens I suspect those predictions of STEEM rising in value over time due to millions of new users will never happen.
@liberosist, thanks for putting this out there.
I was confused when i got on steemit and started reading exactly the opposite of what have been told about the platform but as it is in the real world where no one give a fuck about you,
Expecting fairness that might never come is like expecting the government to give you extra dolls for just showing up in the stadium.
As it is presently, its better to work yourself out and get some really crazy steem power then you can start gaining relevance on the platform.
lol. This Is Some Insane Hardcore truth. I'm Literally Crying as I laugh right now. I believe this system has many potentials and what you do here only gets to the trending pages if you are friends with some whales. I really love this piece. It's Right On Point And it hurts like something. I think my followers need to see this.
I guess the CTO of EOS learned from Steemit. An community with (almost) absolute freedom like Steem/Steemit is, and on top of that no social control due to most of us Steemians being anonymous, result in exactly what you describe in your post; The only way to earn money is by licking the balls - in one way or the other - of the big fish.
From the moment I started understanding Steem and Steemit, I tried to convince Steemians we need some kind of justice system what can result in a larger amount of rules hardcoded into the Steem blockchain, can result in additional services around the Steem blockchain, and can result in some kind of community justice enforcement teams. Foremost such justice system shall make the level of abuse smaller (whatever the community decide to be abuse), and drive a better power distribution. For some reason the Steem blockchain removed some of the hard coded rules defined in an earlier stage, giving more freedom to the community, and allowing more abuse and scamming. Interesting developments I must say.
You nailed it. It’s s tough world out there, and bad things can and will happen, but that is the price to pay for Liberty over security. Lick whale balls made me laugh.
I'm unfollowing people who bitch about how the system has been "unfair" to them. It's a voluntary system, people. You don't like it? Figure out a way to improve it (that doesn't involve endless bitching) or leave. It's that simple.
I am always stating that we have got to be the change we want to see in the world and I am sharing this often with my posts..
I believe it all has to do with everyone's expectations entering steemit(or any other place as a matter of fact).
might not be the solution, but definitely is a start.
Greetings & Good Vibes to Everybody :)
And invest some money in steem power.
For those that can afford it, absolutely YES!
Thank you for commenting :)
And with this comment you earned a new follower!
Bitching about it is the first step in changing it.
You have to name the problem before you can fight it.
So your actions are actually counterproductive.
That said, if they stop at the bitching level, even if you have patted them on the head and told them they should now do something constructive, then it is okay.
That is not completely true though. It is not zero. But being mightily friends with a whale (or more) brings more $ then being good.
edit:
Yesterday I wrote a bit about the tradegy of the commons
https://steemit.com/life/@lennstar/the-tragedy-of-the-untended-commons
and there will be more commons based posts in the future. So if you are interested in this topic, how people can work with each other without screwing themselves up, be free to follow ;)
I’m not licking any body parts and my butt doesn’t hurt😝🤣🤣🤣
meh. Anarchism is anti-authoritarian at its root, so it's anti-capitalist. Steemit is a blockchain version of failed-state capitalism. I wouldn't call anything on here anarchist
Steem is anarcho-capitalist, if you wish to be pedantic.
not trying to be pedantic. just wouldn't want to sully the good name of anarchism with what goes on in this place
Good name? You mean the ideology that has failed every single time, throughout human history.
This is what I am looking forward to. I agree with your assessment of the Steemit situation. I've been through the disheartened and back again phase several times. It's pointless. Now I concentrate on being a blogger of content that I am happy to put out there. This time around the interaction from the community has increased a lot. Doesn't equate to the big bucks some people get for every single (same same) post, but that's life, as brutal as that can be.
The tag of circlejerk was rather apt, I thought. Thanks for your enlightening input.
I wish I could upvote this post more than once. So I upvoted a bunch of your comments in response to some of the people that already replied.
I thoroughly, thoroughly, agree.
One good payout for what you think is a good post isn't the promise of a payout on a future post of the same quality.
It's whether the whale splashes some salt into your eyes or not.
If you control enough Steem power, you control your own destiny, and that of everyone with less than you. It's a fun wave to ride.
This is brutally and agonizingly true. So this means that in the Steemit community, there is no element of fairness except perhaps that defined by whales who happen to be the real owners. For me, I think this represents a call to invest more and talk less. Only the big boys call the shots, you know. But then, isn't this another creation of the infamous Bourgeoisie-Proletariat dichotomy on Steemit?
This is an even more general theme inherent to most cryptos.
Without judging here: Cryptocurrencies are commonly heralded as a device to end economic injustice, but in the end they turned out to be yet another representation of a very inhomogeneous wealth distribution.
I never understand all the crying I see on here, people crying that they are not making enough money who post on Facebook and youtube and Disqus all day for free! This is free money for doing what you were doing for free, people are funny animals.
It's not that they are not making money on Steem. It's that some others are. Who they consider to be inferior. They are extremely butthurt, and cannot stand it.
It's the typical primitive delusion, creating a sport out of life. The only reality is them and others are all equally irrelevant, all of their lives equally meaningless.
It reminds me of the fable of the dog with a bone who sees his own reflection in a pond and thinking it is another dog with a larger bone barks, only to lose his bone in the pond.
Anarchists can come together though and get things done; it just turns into a "government" too quickly that way.
Except, it's a bunch of self-obsessed opportunists at best, scammers at worst. As is the President of the USA. So... Same shit?
(To be fair, Katrin Jakobsdottir is not the above.)
I mean, nothing against government. Go onto any island in Maine. Almost no governement but the post; complete anarchy. People running around naked in the streets; parking their gold carts whereever they like. It is Madness I say!
Sounds a bit like Steem.
Also, now I see what inspires the maddest of your art!
That or the crayons and dogfood I ate as a child
Wait... you live in Maine? I grew up in Hollis, with the Saco river right behind me. I always describe my childhood to others as I was Mowgli from The Jungle Book. I've never been to the naked anarchist Islands, though we had an island we went to that until recently no one else went too. I feel like I had the most magical explorerer childhood
Wild childhood covered in pitch and dirt haha oh man I miss it
Strange, My aunt and cousins lived in Hollis by a river. I even stayed there for a time. I need to get back in touch.(I did not live on an Island I just meant it as an example of less government working well)
Crazy! If your family lived there I probably know them or they know my family, its a VERY small town. My last name is Kilbride Johnson, I'm Sara. I lived there for 14 years and my Dad and brother still live where I grew up!
Did you know any Joyner's in Hollis? I grew up in Thomaston myself, but in La now. There is a Steemit Meetup in LA tonight if you are around.
That's exactly what a government is: A bunch of people getting together and deciding on rules.
You sound very angry, @liberosist, sorry to hear it
I’m reminded of a quote about how pessimism is the inevitable end of all idealism...
I hope things are not as bad as you make them to be, and that justice prevails, somehow.
Also, forgive the editor in me for pointing this out. This is how “du jour” is spelled. Cheers,
Yahia
I'm just having fun. Both the post and all the comment replies. I know the humour is a bit dark and not for everyone, but it's my kind of humour, and I'm expressing it. That said, behind all humour there's always a serious concern.
Yes, I hear the serious concern, and recognize the dark humor, my friend — you taught me a new word: “butthurt.”
I suppose there’s tough love, here, to spare others disillusionment... by confronting them with the very worst, first.
I was taught the word "butthurt" when I joined Steem. I mean, I had heard it before, but never so clearly and prominently. Now I'm just passing on some Steem wisdom.
Haha, now, that’s funny! 🤣 Trying not to be too, too sensitive when my own posts make a $1 or 2 and not to compare myself with all the richly-rewarded nonsense, to avoid butt-discomfort 😶
But, I admit, some days there’s no way around it... Sigh
Everyone needs to read this, especially ALL the planktons and minnows. Many of them complain about how unfair it is to use 14 days to write and proof-read a 100 words writeup and going home with a little above 50cents while a whale would upload a picture of his garden during spring and cash out well over $700 . The answer lies here.
And here
Thank you for putting this up @liberosist
Highly rEsteemed!
It's funny how our expectations change how we feel about certain situations. If I posted videos on YouTube, I would not have any expectation of getting hundreds of dollars for a video. Likewise, if I was just blogging using Wordpress, I have already come to the realization that I will probably never even make $10 based on ad revenue. But now with Steemit, I feel annoyed and discouraged when my posts are barely visible and make less than $1. In fact, I do feel a little discouraged if my posts don't consistently make over $100 because I don't get upvoted by curie or something. I am coming to terms with that and am still eager to post regardless. But I have to admit the truth.
You're right. This platform may not be fair I guess. If I downvote a whale, that whale can choose to downvote my posts for the rest of my life so that I never get a payout on this platform ever again. He doesn't need a reason or explanation. Maybe he did it because I disagreed with him. Maybe he doesn't like my name or is just angry. All you can do is find a way to adapt.
I also compare my Steemit rewards with other platforms. With Blogger for example, it took me more than a year to get a payout of any kind. And this is after generating thousands of hits worth of traffic for the Do No Evil corporation. With Steemit, I already have a few cents for each post. And using markdown is far easier to me than trying to use Wordpress or someone's reinventing the wheel platform.
Hi @liberosist,
It seems you got a $7.0579 upvote from @steempty at the last minute before the payout. (22.95h) and this comment is to make everyone aware.
Please follow @abusereports for additional reports of potential reward pool abuse. Thank you.
I'm shakin' it, boss! I'm shakin' it! Shillin' over here, boss! LOUDLY!!!
(Like that? Did it help?)That breath of fresh air is an ice-pick crashing through the window.
This must be the third post I've read today venting steem - and all from people who are doing interesting stuff.
That is the best promise in a decentralized blockchain globe, right? Find your tribe and do your thing. Just like the real world but more space. Infinite space 😎🤘
Also, some people give a fuck about you. Always will be some.
The market is rude, especially these last few weeks. Greed can undermine one's rational thinking... it look brutal, but we sometime need to be remembered those cold and hard facts.
nice to see your post.realy nice your writing.
good job.best off luck.
Yeah, my luck seems to be off at best.
I never give up!
@sephiroth does though ;)
Your appearance was so awesome, I just had a limit break.
Let me know if you need a Hero Drink on my next turn :)
Luckily, I have an unlimited supply, thanks to this W-Item thingy. Seems there's a glitch in it...
please checK my post.
Hahahaha! @liberosist
😜
thanks, follow if you like
great post
Give me one reason. Yeah, you wouldn't have one, had you read the post.
yes i read the post,it's brutal world let's face it
You very much on point will all your words and they're all absolutely true.
No, they are not absolutely true. Indeed, absolute truth is a topic for another post. Maybe after you bother reading this post.
You said some amazing stuff which seems true to me.....when you power up you become relevant in the community.
Point Taken!
I'm not a whale, and I'm allergic to ball licking. Be wary, you don't want a downvote.
makes sense, thats the point of decentralization isnt it?
The point of decentralization is to build a brutal, abusive, unjust society?
I'm sure it wasn't the original intention but freedom isn't free... it always happens when there is no governance someone will rise that is brutal and unjust to take advantage, but what also happens is that the innovative to find ways to overcome humans are smart enough to be able adapt and overcome.
You made steemit hard with what you have said.
Ok just read it and its true no one owes you a penny, post are liked base on different users taste.
Recall one man's gabbage might just be another man treasure.
If you dont like it power up!
But for minnows like myself, the only advice I would share is get creative more than your yesterday and do join and take part in various communities.
Goodluck and may the force of the steem protect you xd
Well it's a hard to admit but true point because on Steemit the whales are everything and we don't have an option other them give them our attention because they are the one's who give us some upvote and it's also true that their is not anything like quality content because everything is gonna be decide by the whales community.
And no one really cares about anyone in the real world and for making them care we have to do their care first and that's how Steemit works too.
Their are only a few people who really Support good content but they are only a few so that will not beneficial for every Content Creator on Steemit.
But It's a really great and true article my friend @liberosist
Sure u make lots of sense in this post. Nobody gives a f**k abt anybody, there's no concept of fairness or justice at all,everyone can say what they want, upvote what they like, and downvote what they dont. One thing all steemians should know is that all man for himself...
As I read your points it felt a bit odd , maybe it was the cognitive dissonance but I think the I don't give a shit side won so all better now.
I like how you slipped the little hint about EOS in there, smooth... 👍
Thanks so much @liberosist for putting this up... It baffles me a lot after spending over 5hrs to create a post, at the end it gets cents only and some other people post articles having not many words and still get a fat payout.. Its really frustrating.. There was even a time I saw someone who commented just a phrase on someone else's post and upvoted himself with over $2000.. Just on a comment..
May God help many of the planktons and minnows out there.. We need help.
I just pray I get to your level one day @liberosist.
Thanks for the post.
Instead of God, you should pray to Steem whales. It's approximately infinitely more likely to lead to fat payouts. (Which doesn't mean anything)
Haha. I just believe time and patience are what steemit revolves around. But may God touvh the heart to whales too.
@liberosist
What others do is they start using bots but you have to research more on it if you think it will benefit you or not.
But u need to have a sufficient amount of sbd if you wanna use bots because their upvotes only give ur post visibility.. And even at that u might not still get other upvotes.. I am a witness to that
Well yeah. That's what some people do. Am just saying. :P
yap, steem's state is a nice case study on in which direction an anarchy evolves and what the 99% would have to expect from that system ;-)
This whole is brutally true...no free launch on steemit, none in the world!
Hope to become a whale soon. Hehe
I really love the way you analyze things here. The more we worry about the way things happen in this community the more we get weigh down. There are investors that can't just watch their hard earn investment crash. When others react on their actions a times I will just believe that they can blame someone if really they learnt to put themselves in their shoes.
An understanding is all what it entails.
I love your take on powering up and stop worrying.
are the balls salty?
Very interesting read Ass, Gas or Grass nobody rides for free.Except we got here for Free. Just take a licking and keep on ticking or licking. Very nice.
LMAO
So fuckin' true... I think most of the people here should crack some Stirner while they're getting kicked in the balls ;)
OK, let me quote some:
"But just look at the Sultan who so lovingly cares for "his own:' Isn't
he pure seIflessness itself, and doesn't he sacrifice himself hour after
hour for his own? Yes, of course, for "his own." Try just once to show
yourself not as his own, but as your own; for escaping his egoism, you
will take a trip to his jail. The sultan has based his affair on nothing but
himself; he is for himself the all in all and the only one, and tolerates no
one who dares not to be his own."
If anyone can say anything about steemit it's very far from FAIR... but you can still make it IMO :D
Thank you so much for the up vote on my post @liberosist :)
You're an absolute legend and you have a new follower!
people WILL winge and wine, its been indoctrinated into our brains, FEAR of missing out .... FEAR of someone doing better/ feeeling better .... FEAR of not owning what the others own. FUCK the white picket fence in suburbia nightmare! EMBRACE the free market and learn to be humans again.... PLLEEAASSEE!!!!!
Awesome post man lol i am getting downvotes from those whales everyday on my posts or wherewa i comments lol
even those whales fuckd my post which was resteem by @dan lol https://steemit.com/eos/@cryptoboiiii/why-eos-will-destroy-everything-else
That's because you are plagiarising. Or comments are spammy. Well deserved downvotes.
Agreed, someone has to say that! But regarding point 3: I believe Steemit is fair. As you said, nobody is entiled to nothing and everyone has the right to do everything. Isn't that fair? I think yes, but I guess it's a discussion about the definiton of fairness.
Deep truth, better have fun than expect much. ☺
If you are doing what you love and you do not have to worry about money then steemit can be a great platform. Consistent work will get you a decent following of like minded people. Sure you wont make as much as others but what other platform allows you to make what you can on steemit?