Thank you for this post, I had the same question in my mind, where does the value come from? The points I took away that I will use when I explain to friends and family from this are:
- STEEM value is created based on mind power, intellectual work and time spent on curating content, this is much like a loan created out of thin air by a bank who values your future earning potential
- fiat currency is not back by gold anymore (for the most part) so the value assigned to it is based on general acceptance by all that it has value
- unlike a loan - there is no added interest on top of your commitment to slave away for the rest of your life to pay
- the value is endorsed, legitimized, by peer to peer acknowledgment
- STEEM = mind gold :)
I am new to this, but I will place some of my time and energy towards this notion, its worth a try as it may be truly transformational to humanity over time.