It's been a fun packed and enjoyable 30 day learning experience here on Steemit.

Here's my thoughts on the Steemit platform.

• Steemit is a great jabi!
  • jabi = Just Another Bright Idea
    • pronounced jab eye 👀

Eleanor Roosevelt said...

Great minds discuss ideas;
average minds discuss events;
small minds discuss people.

Join me as I discuss my jabis about Steemit...

Welcome to ANARCHY ... kinda...

I totally agree with what
the United States Declaration of Independence states:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

WizNote: I believe these truths apply to every citizen
on this, the 3rd rock from the sun.
Not just Americans...

These two statements sum up what I see as Steemit's biggest asset and biggest flaw.

Steemit's biggest asset

"We hold these truths to be self-evident,"

• Stated another way...
  It should be quite obvious to the most casual observer

"all men are created equal,"

• Everyone starts out with 0.5 SteemPower
  • plus delegation to give you a total of 15 SteemPower
• Everyone starts with a reputation of 25.

"that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,"

• As long as you have SteemPower
  (which gives you bandwidth on the platform)
  • You can post your creative content
    • In hopes someone sees it, likes it and upvotes it
      Earning you more SteemPower and Steem Dollars (SBD) 💲
  • You can curate other people's content
    • In hopes of making a curation reward
      Earning you more SteemPower and Steem Dollars (SBD) 💲

" that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

• Life
  • I think all would agree,
    whatever happens here on the Steemit platform is not going to endanger your life
    • Yes, there might be a psychopath out there that for whatever reason, might try to look you up in the real world and do you bodily harm.
    • But, I refuse to live in fear of that happening.
• Liberty
  • Dictionary.com defines liberty as
    "freedom from arbitrary or despotic government or control"
    • I'll wait to discuss this jabi in the section below (Steemit's biggest flaw)
• the pursuit of happiness
  • There is no guarantee of happiness.
    only the pursuit of happiness...
    • No one can make you happy.
      only you can make you happy...
  • If anyone ever told you life was going to be fair,
    • They lied to you...
  • Happiness is a choice you make
    • Happiness is not dependent upon the circumstances of life.
    • Happiness is only dependent on your choice to be happy
      regardless of what life throws at you...

Steemit's biggest flaw

That to secure these rights,
Governments are instituted among Men,
deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

The only law we have is
the opportunity and limitation placed on us by
the latest hard fork of the program.
I suppose we could call it
Steemit natural law...

• Steemit developers have created a set of natural laws with their software.
  • These laws absolutely cannot be broken.
    • Unlike man-made "laws" which can be broken.
• Please note: Our creators have reserved the right to change the opportunity and limitations.
  • Look up there at the top left of any Steemit web page.
    • It says steemit >>>beta<<<
• That means this is not the final version.
  • They are still experimenting with what works and what doesn't work.

Steemit has a very limited government.

• I guess you could call the witnesses our representative government.
  • Every Steemian has the liberty to vote for up to 30 witnesses
    • Who in turn give their input to the developers
      Helping to steer the future of Steemit.
  • It's our responsibility to vote for those witnesses we feel best represent our ideals
• If you have not voted, maybe you don't have a "right" to complain about the platform.
  • OK, you have the right to freedom of speech,
    so, of course, you can say anything you wish
    • But, I doubt most will take you seriously unless you have voted for the witnesses...

To vote for a witness:

• Click the 3 bars at the top right of this page.
  • Click where it says, "vote for witnesses"
    • Since you're here, you can use this convenient link

WizNote: I'm still working on finding all my witnesses to support.
It would be helpful if you guys & gals could take the time to do a witness page...
I'm not telling you what to do, just offering my 💡 jabi... 💡
You, of course, are free to do as you please...

"Social contracts"

The above stated Steemit contract is quite different than a social contract.

• As in the real world, most citizens believe
  you have a social contract in dealing with others.
  • Malarky!
    • [muh-lahr-kee]

Let me take a snippet from Wikipedia's page about Social Contracts

Social contract arguments typically posit that individuals have consented, either explicitly or tacitly, to surrender some of their freedoms and submit to the authority of the ruler or magistrate (or to the decision of a majority), in exchange for protection of their remaining rights. The question of the relation between natural and legal rights, therefore, is often an aspect of social contract theory.

The closest thing I've found to a social contract here on Steemit is from the FAQ
And I do not remember agreeing to it before being allowed to become a Steemian. Do you?

• Click the 3 bars (menu) at the top right of any Steemit web page
  • Then click where it says FAQ
    • Or since you are here, you can use this handy link

From the FAQ:

Is there an Etiquette Guide for Steemit?
There are no official rules for participating on steemit.com, but one of the users @thecryptofiend has created an Etiquette Guide for the community. While it is not required to follow the suggestions in the guide, they are standards that many users in the community choose to follow.

From the Etiquette Guide:

As I have said multiple times before (and sorry for repeating it but some people don't seem to get it) these ARE guidelines not RULES.

There you go.
There is no social contract!

• There are no official rules you are required to abide by.
  • They are only recommendations.
    • That many (myself included) agree will make everyone's Steemit experience better.

re: the consent of the governed.
When you voluntarily signed up for Steemit,

• you entered into a contract with them
  • they allow you the liberty to use their platform
    • they allow you the liberty to stop using their platform,
      if that's something you decide to do...
      no one is holding a gun to your head 😨 🔫
      making you stay here if you are unhappy with the way things are turning out for you...
  • you agree to abide by the Steemit natural law
    • after all, it cannot be broken...

I am a free man.
No Cartman, I will not respect your authoritah! 😜

• I submit only to one authority (my Creator) and it's not you.
  • You can quote all the made up social contracts you want,
    • but that does not give you authority over me or anyone else...
• I will respect your power (if you have obtained it...)
  • I will respect your freedom to use your power as you deem necessary.
    • but please don't confuse your power as authority
  • and please don't ASSume I am saying what you are doing is wrong...

The one thing I wanted to teach my boys is...
...WizarDave has said MANY times...

Everything you do
& everything you don't do
has consequences.

• I will do my best to not do something that could have bad consequences
  • (like getting squashed by a whale)
    • However, there is 1 really really big problem.
• There is no consensus on exactly what you can and cannot do on this platform.
  • There is a war being waged by those with power.
    • I am quite intrigued watching some of the battles play out.
• I refuse to openly pick sides.
  I only mention this event for one purpose
  it is not to discuss the people involved
  it is to open up discussion about a few jabis I have..
  • Picking sides would have a consequence I may not like,
    • Since, one side would agree with me and the other side would not.
• DO NOT PUT WORDS IN MY MOUTH
  • Do not ASSume any of my observations presented in this post mean anything.
    • I'm waving a white flag here, claiming neutrality on the issue.
• The main reason of this post
  • I've read and participated in some very good discussions about the issues.
    • I mainly want to toss out some observation and posit some jabis to help continue the discussion.

Let's discuss the topic re: freedom of speech

• Most believe one basic right we have is freedom of speech.
  • Do you really believe in that?
  • You do realize, some will use their freedom of speech to
    • disagree with you
    • say things that might make you mad
    • point out the obvioius
    • embarrass you
  • Do they have the right to do those things?
    Sure they do.
    • Do you have the right to react to them exercising their freedom of speech?
      Sure you do.

Do Steemians have the right to use the Steemit platform as they best see fit?

• Probably.
  • As long as a person does no harm to another person
    IMHO, they have the right to do whatever they want!
    That includes here on Steemit and in the "real world."
    • The current war is being fought to determine that line in the sand
      determining the point where it becomes damaging to others.
• and for that I applaud all the warriors!!! 👏

Steemit does have several self-appointed Sheriffs
I've seen a lot of arguments made about the ethics Steemians should follow.

• I agree for the most part.
  • But realize, these are man-made laws,
    which can be broken.
    • Sometimes when I see these ethic arguments,
      I shout at the computer screen...

Who died and made you Sheriff?

My computer screen has also heard me say

• Right on!!!
• Go get 'em!!!
• That's amazing!!!

Even when I somewhat agree with what these good Steemians are doing,

• I have to ask myself...
  • Are they deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed?
    • In most instances, no.
• There may be a general consensus of several points regarding ethics,
  • But there is no "law."
    • Other Steemians are free to use the platform as they best see fit.
• If you want to take advantage of the Steemit opportunity as you best see fit
  • GoFerIt!
    • You have the freedom to use the platform as you best see fit.
• If you want to take it upon yourself to right what you see as a wrong (abuse)
  • GoFerIt!
    • You have the freedom to use the platform as you best see fit.
  • If you are providing justice
    • I'm behind you 100%

Amending the Constitution

The United States has a Constitution, giving the central government certain powers.

• If we see politicians abusing those powers we granted them
  • we have a process to amend the Constitution.
    • Perhaps that is how we can best battle "evil."

If being able to upvote yourself does more harm than good

• let's amend the Constitution with the next hard fork to modify it or eliminate it!
  • My vote has recently been valued at $0.01.
    Does anyone honestly think it is abuse to vote for what I consider to be a quality post
    and give the author a penny?
    Even if that author is me?
    • I heard someone say "Yeah but," ...
      They are probably going to say, some people have upvoted themselves thousands of $'s.
  • I do have a question
    • Is it unethical to upvote oneself directly,
      but OK to create or become part of a curating group which you profit from the group and their upvotes to your votes?
      That's not a rhetorical question. I would honestly like to hear some discussion about this...
  • OK Let's figure out at what point it becomes abuse.
    • somewhere between a penny and thousands of dollars is the correct answer.
• Once we have that all figured out
  • Let's vote for witnesses who will help make this change with the next hard fork.
    • Fair enough?

Is it wrong for people to take advantage of the Steemit opportunity
and make huge sums of money?

• I hope not, because Steemit advertises itself as a social media platform
  where everyone gets paid for creating and curating content.
  • I hear some of you saying, "Well, it's OK up to a point."
    • At what point do you think it becomes unethical?
• If we can come to a consensus, let's make the whales
  • haha WizarDave just made a funny 😜
    • like we can MAKE the whales do anything...
• Let me try again...
  • If we can come to a consensus,
    • let's vote in whales who will help get this limit placed in the next hard fork.

I've seen some complain certain people are posting too much.

• If a person is allowed to post as much as they want,
  can it be called abuse of the system if a person posts a lot?
  • I recently ran across @AdamKokesh here on Steemit (yay!!!)

Adam says

I'm still doing almost a million views a month on YouTube and I make more money from a single post here than in a whole month on YouTube.

He is actively promoting the Steemit platform on all those other platforms.

• He said he will be producing about 6 quality posts a day.
  • Some think that's too many posts.
    • How many posts is too many?
• Let's figure out the answer and
  • you surely have figured out what I'm going to say, right?
    • find enough whales to direct Steemit to include the limit in the next hard fork.
• IMHO, for what it's worth, limiting the # of posts/day is a bad idea...
  • If we limit the number of posts a lot of big hitters such as Adam, won't come here
    • We would be shooting ourselves in our foot
      if we create a limit on the # of posts allowed,
      simply because of a certain individual we may not like...

bots...

Some very powerful wizards have created some bots.
Can we discuss a couple of them???... and then I promise to wrap this up...

Cheetah
Has saved me from voting for what appeared to be a quality, well written post,
but turned out to be a pure copy and paste post.

• There is a problem though with Cheetah.
  • Many of us have been blogging for years.
    Many others are published authors whose works have appeared on web sites.
    • How can we post our original work to the Steemit platform, without being called for plagiarism?
• I've heard many excuses, that you shouldn't do this for a number of reasons.
  • Malarkey
    • You're telling me I can't post my original content on this platform, if it's ever showed up on another web page?
• Who died and made you sheriff? 😊
  • I'm not saying Cheetah is a bad bot, since it is doing a world of good helping us eliminate the copy & paste kiddos from the platform.
    • Just pointing out that some of the recommended hoops you need to jump through to stop cheetah from showing up in your comments are a bit ridiculous.

upvote bots
There has been a lot of discussion about whether or not it's ethical to use them.

• Does it really matter if it's ethical or not?
  • Some don't care and will use them anyway giving them an advantage over those of us with a conscious who might think they are unethical.
    • That doesn't sound fair.
• Perhaps the better question is if they should be allowed at all.
  • If we can come to a consensus, let's help it become part of the next hard fork...
    • Right on!?!?!? ✌

beware of bots that don't like certain upvote bots
It's come to my attention that there is a certain bot who doesn't like you using bots who will upvote posts older than 3.5 days old.

• I really have no clue why they think this.
  • Is it unethical to create a bot who downvotes what they consider to be unethical use of the Steemit platform?
    • I dunno!
• If it is, would some great wizard create a bot to negate this bots affect?

Conclusion

IMHO, Steemit is the next big thing!

• But, the enterprises other people create once Steemit releases their Smart Media Tokens (SMT) will be phenomenal!

Steemit is not ✋ Too Good To Be True ✋

😎 Steemit is Too Good To Be Ignored 😎

Sharing is caring

A few random tidbits that may help newbies in their first 30 days...

Top performing tags for me

#newbieresteemday #ocd-resteem #mspsteem

• these curating groups helped get me noticed.

#homesteading

• There are a lot of homesteaders.
  • I tagged my soon to be top payout post with it.
    • Welcome to our lil homestead - WizStead 1st Post

Image sources: the jabi logo was created by me.
I've been using that wizard graphic for 20+ years. No clue where it came from ...

If you like the jabis presented here
Please upvote, comment & re-steem

If not, please return to enjoying the pretty pictures and hilarious memes available on this platform.

I am WizarDave

Here's my introductory post
After 30 days here's my stats:

• Estimated Account Value $81.83
• 155 followers
• 329 total posts
  • 31 blog posts + this one makes 32...
• Reputation = 45

👓 I've met some amazingly cool people,
💘 and am totally loving the Steemit platform!

The above is my 30 days on Steemit story

• and I'm sticking to it.
  • Enjoy and have a GREAT day!!!