Source

I Personally Believe:

• There's a big issue at hand, far greater in importance and scope than much of what many of us spend our time on in this platform.

• The expectation to receive income far outweighs the motivation to selflessly give it via meaningful upvotes or resteems. Also, if someone is regularly upvoting themselves heavily, and giving pennies to their commenters, something isn't right.

• The Steemit food chain / ecosystem is heavily imbalanced because money follows money more often than not.

• Giving without expecting a financial reward in return can be more fulfilling and comes full circle.

The Big Issue In My Eyes:

• Steemit's Economic Gap Stemming From Increased Global Adoption

Congratulations! We've pushed for aggressive global adoption and we're starting to get it. This is a great thing and it's vital to the backbone of the platform growing over the long term. However, the next step to maintain this progress is supporting it!

Amazing Steemians are building inroads all over the world. As a result, we now have the great responsibility as a community to maintain and sustain this advancement. Thanks to everyone for their dedicated effort on this front.

At this point, we can either post a GIF of Leonardo DiCaprio toasting a champagne glass in front of fireworks, or we can rightfully engage in the crucial social responsibility this expansion has created a need for.

Naturally, many new aspiring Steemians stem from underprivileged regions where they have far less financial means or resources than we're used to. While costs of living are scaled accordingly, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to accept that many of these people could really use both our financial and emotional support. I've looked up the national average yearly income of some countries I've seen new users from and cringe at how low it really is. The numbers are staggering and explain why some people have been appearing desperate for votes.

There is great inequality around the world, but I'm thrilled that Steemit can be an absurdly easy way for us to combat that each and every day.

I presume that through the eyes of those who are less fortunate, some may be ecstatic by the overwhelming opportunities Steemit offers them at their fingertips. This isn't hard labor, or blood, sweat, and tears. It's a chance for them to use their minds to succeed on a global playing field.

Steemit is a brand new experience for everyone who gets on board, while also giving low barrier access to what is probably many peoples' first cryptocurrency ever (at no expense - which many couldn't ever dream of affording even if they had a bank account). I absolutely love this about Steemit. What we all earn today will hopefully be worth a lot more in the future. With that said, I'm excited because $10 for a poorer person could be $100 in a year, and that's INCREDIBLE.

I'm damn well sure that if I was making $10 a week and I saw posts earning hundreds of dollars via $5-$10 upvotes (or sadly $20+ self-upvotes), I'd be on Steemit every second possible to seize the miraculous opportunity in front of me. It would be a dream come true.

While some underprivileged may be overly excited and ambitious, I feel that many humbly have the best intentions to succeed within our community. I don't feel greed in this respect. I feel necessity and hunger. I'd imagine that many want to provide a better life for themselves and their families. Some people may need medical care that they can't afford otherwise, and Steemit feels like their ticket to such "luxuries" many of us casually enjoy. While some may roll their eyes at a small upvote, I feel that this gesture is lightning in a bottle for others. It's hope of a better future, or maybe actually just some food!

I fear that many may see this influx of new Steemians as an inconvenience from the comfortable norm, but I challenge those people to take a step back and see that this is a great "problem" to have.

With the right support, encouragement, education and rewards, these people will eventually become leaders in their respective regions, excited to share their journey with others. This will be rocket fuel for further adoption and for local ambassadors to expand their circles. It feels rather self-fulfilling to me.

Many of us are fortunate beyond others' wildest dreams and aspirations. Let's share this with others!

As a community, we represent opportunity and hope to underprivileged Steemians in a way that many of us potentially can't imagine or understand. If we did, we'd certainly act differently!

We have the power and means to change the lives of many good people and their families with the click of an upvote button, educational tip instead of a flag, or a simple supportive message. It couldn't be any easier!

I personally hope that more of us can take on the gift of this responsibility more effectively.

The picture below speaks volumes to me because it is so true where I live. It's exactly why I give food to the homeless on the street who need it more than I do. This picture isn't a stereotype, so please no take no offense. It's reality in many places around the world and an inconvenient truth.

Source

Steemit is an incredible platform because there's no direct cost to sign up, meaning that anyone with an internet connection and smart device can benefit from it. It's a global game changer!

Circling back to income, it goes without saying that plenty of Steemians have more than enough padding to sacrifice "optimized" curation rewards to give to others. Doing so CHANGES LIVES and INSPIRES. I can't think of a more rewarding way to engage on Steemit than this. This is what I want to leverage the platform for.

Perhaps I'm biased, but I'm completely comfortable with never earning a penny from curation rewards. If voting to maximize my profits was important to me at all, perhaps I'd be less black and white on this.

While this post may not have any impact on some, I'm sure that it can be both an exciting and depressing reality for those who aren't so fortunate. Imagine how it must feel for some to see hundreds or thousands of dollars flow freely right in front of them, see powerful upvotes allocated to filler material, all while they're scraping and thankful for a penny. Now imagine how good people would feel if they got just a sliver of that abundance. Wouldn't you feel good making someone's day or week?

I'm sure that there are lots of people who wish and pray that a good samaritan would help them more or give them some recognition. Why not step up and get to know some people to start to help? Give me one good humane reason not to.

We are a community united under one blockchain capable of changing the world in many ways, both immediately and gradually. The beautiful part of Steemit is that everyone is connected so we can support virtually anyone we choose right away. Please take advantage of this if you don't already.

Final Thoughts:

• Many of us have the power to change lives around the world with just one upvote or lesson.

• Many can change lives with a steady upvotes and guidance for underprivileged Steemians over time.

• Coach people to make better content instead of flagging them or writing them off.

• Surprise those who you know NEED help with a generous upvote or SBD donation just because.

I currently only have 3 SBD, but I'm going to give it away right now. Care to join me?

Call me dramatic, but I'm fired up and passionate about this for good reason. Perhaps I'll be pissing into the wind if this post gets 10 views, but I feel better trying instead of pretending these issues don't exist.

Thanks so much for reading this and considering what you can do to help. I'm no social activist or economics expert, but this is what I can do right now. Please resteem this or write to your followers about this if you'd like to help this message spread.

Further perspective from www.dosomething.org:

• "80% of the world population lives on less than $10 a day."

• "Nearly 1/2 of the world’s population — more than 3 billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day. More than 1.3 billion live in extreme poverty — less than $1.25 a day."

Source

@steemmatt