“Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.” ― Henry Thomas Buckle
Although there was no shortage of new and fresh ideas surfacing in the Libertarian circles in the past years, there were some however that wanted to focus on personal attacks and witch-hunt expeditions.
Often you would see them trying to drive the conversation away from new thoughts and concepts, and try to reduce them into popularity contests about which “celebritarian” to attack next.
Gossip was starting to replace the festival of interesting ideas.
Instead of theories or plans, a bulk of the focus seemed to be canalized towards complaining about other people.
“This girl doesn’t represent the Libertarian philosophy”, “This guy is a fake”...etc.
Keiser was right, from the outside it’s kinda looks like Lord of the Flies sometimes.
It was a really sad thing to see. After all, If you don’t like how someone conducts his interviews, why don't you make your own?
Don’t like how that girl makes silly jokes in that podcast? Start your own podcast.
Don’t like how that classy guy in a bow tie dresses like “a sell-out”? Don’t watch.
Start your own show, build your own media company, write your own books and dress like a non sell-out.
No one is stopping you.
But those things are hard, they require a lot of work.
Witch-hunting is easy.
The irony however is that the witch-hunters look just like the “parasite class” they loath oh so badly.
They refuse to create anything of value, yet they always focus on other people. They try to get everyone at everyone's throat while pretending to be looking out for... Well, the greater good.
They pretend that they are looking out for the community but in reality all they do is to make everyone fight with everyone and try to get everyone to rally against an inner enemy.
Exactly as the politicians do. After all, they're only looking out for everyone, right?
They say that 4% percent of people are sociopaths, and every community has one.
“Everybody complains about politicians. Everybody says they suck. Well, where do people think these politicians come from? They don't fall out of the sky. They don't pass through a membrane from another reality. They come from American parents and American families, American homes, American schools, American churches, American businesses and American universities, and they are elected by American citizens.” ― George Carlin
After all, just like in real life 20 percent of people bring the 80% of value. And the opposite is true as well, 20% of people bring the 80% of drama.
And we sure as hell had our fair share of witch hunts before, the war on boobs, the war on whales, on specific figures… If you look you will see the very same individuals trying to stir hate for months on end.
Are they actually looking out for the community? Or are they operating just like your run-of-the-mill politician?
I don't know. But one thing is clear:
They always point at a group of people and say it’s their fault. And that is no recipe for success.
The good news, is that this an amazing community of go-getters. Just look at the success of steemfest or how people get together any time an issue arises. It's truly beautiful.
We are in a community where you wake up and find messages saying “Some fellow steemians got stuck in an airport, what can we do to help?” And the community more often than not responds.
So many people have realized that their self-interest and the growth of steem is one of the same, and at the same time they're all enjoying this beautiful experiment that has the potential of changing lives.
Some people choose to move forward, and some however only care about dragging people down. It's like real life, it happens.
Don’t mind the witch-hunters, don’t mind their wooden stakes and pitchforks.
They always existed and always will exist.
They will keep changing targets hoping to get everyone at everyone’s throat.
After all, the road to success is filled with these things, but ask any successful person in the world and they’ll tell you. Complaining is not a strategy.
Complaining doesn’t get you anywhere but down. In fact it’s the single most direct path to losing in life and intoxicate relationships. It's the perfect guide to leading a miserable life.
But then again, you can’t really expect a good advice from a witch hunter.
Thank you for reminding me about all of the positivity that exists in this community. It may not make as much noise when people rally together to help people get home after being stranded at an airport... but it has a much more lasting effect. There really are a lot of people here trying to pull each other up.
There are a lot of great people here, a lot. And more importantly there are many people getting shit done and creating all sorts of productive things. Don't let the witch-hunters darken the mood, just ignore them :)
And you know, we're gonna be legends ;)
I'm sorry this came close to home. After being caught falsely accusing Jason yesterday, you still feel no shame after throwing dangerous false accusations and being caught?
Oh well, I guess people like you are like that.
Downvoted again :)
Did it? I don't know because I don't read your posts. There is no need...
So who cast the #steemguild votes for this post? You, @jrcornel, @gavvet, @hanshotfirst???
I don't know. What I do know is that you were caught lying making dangerous accusations about Jason taking funds from some account he doesn't have access to, and pretended he pays himself to promote on steemit.chat.
What kind of malignant sociopath does that in cold blood?
You continued making dangerous accusations of abuse. Downvoted again.
P.S: Thank god you don't read my posts, I don't read yours either. I want nothing to do with people like you. I won't read any of your comments from now on either.
Have a nice life!
Hilarious cartoon!
Hahaha I've seen stuff like that as well.
Hope the tide turns, it would be more interesting :)
https://steemit.com/steemit/@sumthnfrumnuthn/if-you-don-t-like-it-go-build-your-own
Checking it out. Nice profile pic btw ;)
Very very well put...
Thank you!
I wrote about whiners recently as well. Man, it can be a struggle at times ignoring them. They can be like a ringing in the ear that never goes away. It's very hard to focus at times and I'll admit, I've snapped... but I feel better now.
Oh I snapped a couple of times too. But now I just mute them. And you're right, it's hard to focus, so always ignore if possible.
I remember your post btw. :)
Glad you feel better now.
What if we addressed them as concerned potential investors? Would that change how you address the people who are using the platform?
I should also say; the article I wrote about whiners was tagged as funny and was written in the character of This Man. It mentioned experiences of my life, away from Steemit, and from my past. That article was about whiners in general. I didn't address anyone in particular.
I think you're spinning my words. Are you saying I'm calling everyone on Steemit a whiner?
General statement. I can't really stand whiners, that's all.
I know what grievances are. There are productive ways to handle those. There are also whiners. They can never be happy. Even when given the answers, they refuse to listen and carry on whining. I don't like being around negativity like that. It's not productive. It becomes a distraction. I'm not sure who or what you're talking about. Whiners just bother me.
Well said -- Life is too short to spend your time complaining, when you could be living, creating, loving... Cheers!
Yes! :)
Cheers man!
I LOVE this post. I don't care how many people whine about the unfair distribution of rewards, if someone is consistently producing great content and being rewarded well for it, I tend to think it's a goal to shoot for, not something to criticize. I've been here two months and worked really hard, producing unique content--this formula works. My rep shows it, my consistent and increasing rewards show it. If I had come on the scene when you did, who knows?
You are at 168 + dollars and I added my vote, because this is what people should be shooting for, not complaining about.
Hey I was just reading your post.
Yeah totally, that's the best way to go in any community. Whining doesn't take you anywhere. Great work and consistency will push you forward.
I'm sure you'll do great, and I can remind you of this in a few months :)
I will never understand whining, it's a waste of time that can only possibly give you a headache, ha!
Absolutely agreed, every post of yours I've read is the kind of quality that says you deserve your place here.
Hopefully they have another steemfest in Amsterdam...or somewhere equally as awesome, and we can discuss this then ;)
Yeo- that's what I did- started my own media brand- it's all at a loss but it's my passion and a way in which I attempt to be of service to others.
Actually that's best way to go about most businesses, if you provide a service to others, you're more likely to get there :) Plus it's your passion! Hope you're enjoying what you do, and that it turns from loss to profit.
This strikes me as absurd and elitist... I guess it's just accepted wisdom among Libertarians, though?
Actually Vilfredo Pareto. Pareto's law, the 80/20 principle. Don't know if he was a libertarian though, I never saw the point in serching that to be honest.
Absurd? You're free to feel whatever you please. Elitist? Mathematical observations come without emotions nor ideologies.
I'm fascinated how you picked on that specific thing, and not sociopathy and witch-hunters.
It's interesting. I like it.
An interesting post @the-alien. I'm a huge supporter of the Pareto principle in most cases. However I don't think it can be applied to everything.
For example if Donald Trump said that 80% of Mexicans were criminals and rapists... And some (20%) were good people..
Then defended it by calling it an objective mathematical algorithm... ya know an 'alternative fact'...
Defending the Pareto principle like it's a mathematical proof is inappropriate in this situation, in my opinion.
Something feels wrong with that kind of defense.
It's most definitely not applied to everything. It's applied that a small part of the people create most of the value, and a small percentage create most of the trouble.
Most companies in the world operate on those principals as well.
Say you wanna target new users, a small percentage will influence a large number of people to join.
However. That was an insignificant line here. And in any community, a small percentage of people create most of the drama :)
Most witch-hunts are started by the very same people. Not in steemit, in any community.
Anyways, I can be wrong. Maybe in all jobs, hobbies or sports every one is a 100% equal in everything? It doesn't matter much to the context here.
That was probably the least significant line in the message anyways.
Nice seeing you again man! Hope you're doing great!
Steemit is definitely an interesting look at social psychology, that's for sure.
Also please don't hang yourself on the 20%. In some cases its 90/10, in others 30/70.
It is not a law proofed my math, but a principle, a rule of thumb based on observation.
But you find that nearly everywhere. Even in nature, where 20% if the area hosts 80% of the (diversity) of species.
I remember reading a book on it a few years ago, I'll have to have another skim through :)
I don't think that the Pareto Principle is gospel. It's kind of like the golden ratio... there is nothing magic about these proportions. You can find all sorts of patterns if you're looking for them. Assuming they have valid application across a wide range of subjects, or that things are somehow pre-determined to conform to them, is unscientific, intellectually lazy, and depending on how they are used, even dangerous.
I guess it just jumped out at me as a sweeping claim that is too broad and vague to have any utility. Yet it sounds good and fits into an ideology of apologia for inequality and oppression in many forms. If only 20% of the population is really contributing anything to society, it quickly becomes a justification for demonizing and mistreating the other 80%... This sort of thinking has led to great tragedy often in history, and even more frequently it contributes to a status quo that subjugates the masses to prop up economic and political elites.
Besides all that, in order for that particular statement to hold water, you'd have to define "value" in a very narrow sense to quantify it in a way that can be measured. Value is inherently subjective and defies quantification. Any metric that I can imagine to use in an attempt to quantify it would be inherently flawed. Similarly "bringing" the value would be difficult to measure... virtually impossible unless you are examining a very narrow and simple case.
I find it disconcerting on a number of levels.
So I'm gonna skip through all the "intelectually lazy", the "dangerous" and all the inflated words.
I'm gonna treat you with respect (not faking it, I mean it).
This post is very clear, very concise. It's about the witch-hunters.
That's the aim of this, that's what's important here. let's not drive the conversation away.
You can write a post debunking the pareto principle and I promise you, I'll read it.
As I said, with respect.
With all due respect, I was trying to discuss ideas... seems you're more interested in talking about people.
I don't know about these witch hunters, I thought the post had something to do with Libertarianism. I apologize.
What? I just encouraged you to write a post about the other subject and we'll discuss it there.
Or PM me if you want.
This post has to do with lessons from the libertarian in-fighting where the lesson is about: Witch-hunting.
This is the subject discussed here, but I'm glad to discuss anything else you want elsewhere.
What will never happen is that I'll fall for it, and let the message be distracted by something else.
It just ain't gonna work here. :)
No need to appologize, I was clear and concise. I'm happy to discuss anything else you want. Just not letting the discussion get distracted.
We can encourage discussions about witch-hunters here. And talk about other stuff there. :)
Follow me and upvote https://steemit.com/@fahmiauliasfr
This post has been ranked within the top 25 most undervalued posts in the first half of Feb 04. We estimate that this post is undervalued by $4.95 as compared to a scenario in which every voter had an equal say.
See the full rankings and details in The Daily Tribune: Feb 04 - Part I. You can also read about some of our methodology, data analysis and technical details in our initial post.
If you are the author and would prefer not to receive these comments, simply reply "Stop" to this comment.
one interesting word here is (ok, 2 words) virtue signalling
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtue_signalling
That's a rather small example of similar stuff on his blog. All worth checking out. I feel compelled to do this, because he's a very quiet and humble guy who would never do this for himself.I see that you voted on this, which means you probably already saw it, but just in case you didn't https://steemit.com/writing/@therealpaul/the-abandoned-earthlings-left-naked-on-a-half-frozen-world
I did, amazing post.
Quite a few people tell me to check out @thereapaul, for good reason :)
Great! That gives me a brighter perspective of the future of our race, LOL
Thank you for posting @the-alien.
Lovely post. The quote by Henry Thomas Buckle is a favorite.
If one may add to the dialogue a couple of principles that compliment your article.....Stay and don't complain or leave and don't complain......don't complain. To whisper a complaint is to shout your confusion.
Appreciate your upvote today......thank you.