Considering the "Value" of Things: Whatever Happened to the ArtZone "MULA" Token?

reddragonfly (64)in #artzone • 5 years ago

These days, it often feels like I am trying to "run between the raindrops," as I try to get a lot more things done than should probably be expected of a single person.

Such is life.

At the moment, I don't have a lot of choice in the matter.

"Tiny Passenger" photo by Pete Williams; used with permission

The "Downfall" of Airdrops?

Back in March, we were the recipients of some of @artzone's "MULA" tokens... evidently distributed as a form of "airdrop" to a lot of people who follow that account, or use that tag.

Which, of course, is nice and good and cool and all that stuff. "Support those who support YOU." Good philosophy.

Anyway, this morning I logged into my Steem-Engine account and noticed that my 692 MULA tokens were — in essence — worthless.

As I recall, MULA was one of the very first SMTs... could be wrong.

This development got me to wondering a bit about "the value of things." And — specifically — the (lacking?) value of so-called "airdrops."

Are they just completely useless ways to distribute tokens to people who would never have bought them, in the first place... and then render a currency completely valueless?

I look at the sad MULA token and see the market cap of the entire 21 million tokens listed as about $88. I'm certain that is not what @surfyogi and crew had in mind.

"Cat Face"

"Free Stuff" Always Devalues

The trouble with giving away "free stuff" is that it automatically devalues whatever it is you're giving away.

I remember one of the artists we worked with at the Red Dragonfly Gallery saying that she was always "pissing off" family and friends because she was not willing to give people she knew any of her paintings for free, or even at a discount.

"It devalues the work!" she said, "never GIVE AWAY that which you have the most talent or skill at!"

And she stuck to her guns... and yes, most of her paintings are still between $400 and $3,000.

The thing about "value" and "worth" is that insisting on its presence is neither selfish, nor is it some form of mercenary capitalism. It is merely making the point that what you do is something that you take seriously... just like a doctor doesn't hand out exams for free, and a plumber doesn't fix your pipes out of the goodness of his/her heart.

I often gave away my own artwork — very early in the process — until I realized that people expected to be able to get free art to give to others as gifts and whatnot, because "they knew the artist."

To close this circle, Airdrops "devalue" because they broadcast the message "Here, we're going to give you this something for FREE!" thereby suggesting there is no value there.

Maybe there was value once... but the problem with those attracted to "free stuff" is that they tend to cash out so they can use the money to buy pizza.... and that's NOT the desired result!

Thanks for reading!