For me, one of the greatest potentials of Steemit is that it a real and tangible step towards a form of "Universal Basic Income" for people. And it is peer-to-peer based, rather than some government "program" that would probably be doomed to fail. People's upvotes-- quite literally-- is creating income for people in parts of the world where the hardship is extreme. Steemit might not offer a "life of luxury" to anyone-- but as you wrote here, $5 can provide some decent food in many parts of the world. And that is a beautiful thing!