“Decisions are made by those who show up”
- Variously attributed to Harry Truman and Woody Allen.
Recently, a few of us have been talking about Politics, and the Steemit community. What is it about Politics that drives everyone crazy? Why do people avoid it? It is amazing to me that people live and work somewhere and are hugely impacted by decisions made, and yet, AVOID making this decisions.
"Don't do unto others what you don't want others doing to you."
- the Silver Rule
Do you care about Steemit? You can make a difference, but helping to inform new users, by guiding them to the principles that Dan Larimer, one of the founders, envisioned Steemit to be.
Free Market Currency
@dan wanted to find Free Market Solutions to Secure Life, Liberty, and Property. Simply put, he wanted control, (and MONEY is about control) out of the hands of The Few, and into the hands of those who do the work.
STEEM
Steem was about finding a way to have a currency, not controlled by any one single government, company or individual. It was a way to create a currency, in demand by all, and fairly distributed.
The Tech Behind It
Not only the tech, but the principles behind the technology, too.
Dan felt strongly that certain technology would be better than others. For one thing, the Social Contract, that DPoS, Or Delegated Proof Of Stake, is a FAIR, Democratic, and DECENTRALIZED way to mange the currency.
"Delegated Proof of Stake (DPOS) is the fastest, most efficient, most decentralized, and most flexible consensus model available. DPOS leverages the power of stakeholder approval voting to resolve consensus issues in a fair and democratic way."
- From Bitshares
“Don’t ever forget that a small group of thoughtful people can change the world, It’s the only thing that ever has.”
- Margaret Mead
Why are people NOT getting involved? Why not vote? Why not speak out? Why not protest? Why not RUN FOR OFFICE?
Change can come from within, as well as without.
People can use the system and MAKE it better. MAKE it accountable.
Sure, it’s easier at the local town level, and to a degree at State level, but, guess what? MAKE IT ACCOUNTABLE on a National Level, too.
GET INVOLVED
“Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
- Rob Siltanen
Sound familiar? It's from an Apple Commercial, but it's more than that.
It makes people upset due to tribal evolution. Ever notice that most people that actually are willing to discuss politics will personally identify with an ideology? Just like our ancient ancestors defended the tribe at all costs (or you died), today, our tribal brains will defend our political tribe (ideology) regardless of facts. And the more facts that contradict the ideology, the more convinced you will be that the ideology is right.
Its called the Backfire Effect. I have a video about it on my blog. Our tiny, tribal primate brains are simply programmed for it, and few people overcome it.
well said, my friend.
🖤
this will be very helpful to me thanks for posting it
I couldn't have said it better myself. My favorite quote, which is germane to your points and a little advice to my fellow Steemians as well as fellow human beings:
I, along with many others, have done a little bit of both. Can we make this the platform that takes this idea to the next level?