@stephenkendal, great post as always, and a good explanation of on of the most frequent questions I get, as well. Thanks for all you do to promote Steemit!
Recently, I have been augmenting my description (which is similar to yours) with what I call the "SnapChat Analogy."
People ask "But how are these tokens WORTH anything?" when there is no underlying central business "making" something, like a product. I point to SnapChat-- which most people know-- and ask them how SnapChat common stock (valued at $30 BILLION) is "worth anything" when SnapChat has never made a cent, and has no viable plan for making money. It helps explain how we are willing to invest in/pay money for just an idea without the presence of something tangible like a teacup or a dinner.
If people still don't "buy it," I have to remind myself that people were also deeply skeptical of buying AOL and Yahoo! stock at $5.
I could not agree anymore with what you say. It mirrors my sentiments entirely. Stephen