First A Little About Myself...
I'm something of a maverick, entrepreneur, author, editor, artist, composer and a lot of other similar creative endeavor effort acronyms.
I've been involved in entertainment (my first efforts at this when I was but a mere child, more than fifty years ago), creative, graphic and commercial art (ditto), writing, editing and publishing since 1979, and the ministry (again, ditto).
My efforts, since then, have centered around doctrinal religious research, social and political commentary, economics, and prophecy, with an emphasis on discovery, innovation and unique insights where others merely skim the surface while attempting to proselytize their ignorance, arrogance and erroneous assumptions to the masses.
Election 2016
For instance, take the current election in progress between what I have labeled the Nebuchadnezzar vs. Jezebel candidates of the media circus political agenda.
Does this election really come down to, as one journalist put it, voting for mommy or daddy?
Why isn't anybody looking closer at the VICE-presidential candidates on each ticket?
I woke up from a feverish dream this morning in which one of the two finalists on the presidential ticket this year died before the election (not saying which one), thinking how this would change the entire pre-election debates and election process.
If you look back at history, to Lincoln, FDR, Kennedy and Nixon you can see how dramatically their choices for VP running mates either positively or negatively affected the country in the aftermath of their inability to complete their terms of office.
Frankly, I'm of the opinion that voting is not the best way to select a nation's leaders. IF it could be done honestly and with integrity, the ancient practice of casting the lot (for state, then county, then household, then individual) would come a whole lot closer to insuring we have the best leaders providence would provide, rather than "choosing" between a millionaire (who largely got it dishonestly) and a billionaire (who mostly worked hard but always with the view of beating the "other guy" competitively).
Steemit To The Rescue!?
Recently, with the loss of my income base and home because we could no longer afford property taxes, and resulting homelessness for more than half a year (I'm for abolishing all such taxes on homes, for this very reason), while attempting to start a new business to turn things around for my elderly wife, myself and our 24-year old handicapped son, I've looked for online venues to continue my efforts.
Then I discovered Steemit.com and, despite its present limitations as a startup, has great potential and the possibility of financial reward for quality and helpful effort, all of which lit a bit of a renewed fire under my creative spirit.
Will it live up to its promises, or go down in flames as so many worthy but underfunded/underutilized Internet resources have?
Time alone will tell. I only know that if and when the gold diggers and geeks become outnumbered by passionate and inspired contributors and participants in discussing/debating/critiquing their efforts, Steemit can grow into a premiere platform for communicating what's really important, indeed vital, to the future of not only this site, but the world as a whole.
Re: Your Efforts To Communicate On Steemit
My best advice on how to effectively communicate on this or any other public forum is to:
1) Be circumspect and careful of not only what you say, but the why, how and when best to do so.
2) Fact check and be careful to disseminate only accurate and truthful facts, figures, links, etc.
3) Try not to get so emotionally attached to your opinions that you fail to see the diverse forest for the sole genus of tree you've selected to focus your attention upon.
I'm looking forward to seeing this site explode into the mainstream as a truly viable and effective means of not just communication and dissemination of useful, evocative and creative efforts, but also as a means by which deserving creative types in all fields can come together and perhaps even earn a little something (or possibly a lot) from their activities.
Please Weigh In...
Of course I would like and appreciate it, if you found this piece useful, interesting or informative, that you vote it up below.
And/or add your own comment(s), pro or con.
That would certainly help make this post more helpful for others here.
Until next time,
Hank Scott
Hi Hank,
Nice to see you on here. I think your 3 points about communication are the ideal. I would like to think that we can achieve that, but in my first 24 hours here, I've already seen that this space is just as prone to mudslinging as any other public venue. I read for half an hour the comments under one post where members discussed the difference between fair use and commercial use of copyrighted material. I didn't get all the way to the bottom. A lot of people either don't understand was is fair and legal or they just don't care. Let's hope that as time goes by, rules of conduct are put in place that will indeed help us communicate respectfully and effectively with each other.
I wish you well in your steemit journey and hope that this becomes for you a way to support your family.
Sharon
Discovered the book (You Write, They Pay) on your Facebook page and bought the Kindle version today. Looks like a good direction for me to take right away, with my prior experience in publishing/writing as a working foundation.
Cheers! (Time to get reading and implementing!)
Sharon, thanks for your input!
Views on fair and commercial use of copyrighted material are like opinions about what is or isn't "legal" without reading the actual statutes or law books.
Sad to say we live in an imperfect, superficial yet highly opinionated world. Hoping you're right about time healing such miscommunications.
Meanwhile, I'm not banking on just one site or avenue to gain financial traction, preferring to keep my "eggs" in diverse "baskets" one or more of which will hopefully soon result in a return of my time/effort invested.
Best regards, Hank
If Steemit can grow into a premiere platform for communicating what's really important depends on how can it keep paying for posting when there is no incoming revenue? How long will investors keep feeding this?
Nice to meet you! Welcome to the family steemit.
Happy to be here...
Like anything else, value is in the eye of the investor (in fact that's all money is or has ever been).
Incoming revenue for Steemit will depend a lot on not only those seeking a return on their investment, but also on those who see the value in funding worthy content providers by powering up with Steem Power and upvoting content and authors/contributors they find valuable, insightful or challenging.
This will encourage more authors/contributors who have something of value to add to this community.
An excellent explanation of the economics and present/future viability of Steemit can be found here: https://steemit.com/steem/@arhag/where-does-the-money-come-from-a-look-into-the-economics-of-steem
Hi Hank. I love your take on Veep choices. It's something we all need to take into account more than we do. Bravo.
Well put, Hank! I think you've shared some good advice and voiced the hopes of us all. Let's all figure this thing out!