What Steemit can show us about the world: Adventures in the Wild Wild Web

I have been on Steemit for 5 months, on and off, and really love it here! I love my life too. I supposed if I did not like my life I would likely despise Steemit as well... because what I have observed thus far with my interactions on this platform, is that it is an online reflection of what is happening in the world. I am grateful for what my life has given me thus far... and thusly, I am also thankful for what I have received from my digital life on Steemit. I have made some good contacts, I have a great feed that varies from entertainment, financial advise, music and creative writing. I have also made a bit of money and cashed in some SBD as a big bonus for having some blogs that got a few likes. In the real world, the story is much the same. I have friends, a network that is both entertaining and useful in many different ways... and I have done some jobs that have made me some money.

What's my point you are beginning to wonder? Maybe you see where I am going already.

The view of my life and my life on Steemit is where I put my focus... that keeps me sane and happy... good people, good times and a bit of money to sweeten the deal. I am aware of everything else that goes on in the world and in the wild wild web as well. So lets get into it because life is not all about what we chose to focus on to stay sane... Sometimes we need to magnify all of the things that could push us over the edge if we chose to look a bit more directly.

The rich get richer don't they? In my life I am just another working class dude who has been blessed with a brain and skill and a hard work ethic. If I haven't been slugging it out 6 days a week for the last half year I don't know where I would be right now... but I am in a good enough place. I got a roof over my head, a truck, tools and enough work floating around me that I can get what I need to make it through the month.

I do know that if I had a million dollars, that I could turn it into 2 or 5 pretty easily. Turning a couple hundred dollars into a million can take a lot longer... but in the cryptosphere... it is not impossible. In the world, people born with great privilege don't have to do what I have to to get by. They let their money make money for them.

Steemit... doesn't that sound familiar? I have taken advantage of the freedom of information here on Steemit... and investigated all of the highest paid posts and posters... It seems like most of them are already loaded. So, all they need to do is write something, put their stamp of approval on it and BOOM... they are trending and already making a fistfull of dollars.

My 10 cent upvote has been doled out to all sorts of people. Some are writing because they have a story to tell... some are writing to share some information they feel could be useful... some want to multiply their net worth. Their motives are theirs and I know I am not here to judge anyones motives. I also give an upvote where it is deserved regardless of how much steem is sitting in their wallets. I can only judge based on the quality of the offering and I feel that is best for me and my integrity, and for the longevity of the platform. But I cannot help to long for a bit more justice... even though I am slowly turning into a dolphin who could likely morph into a whale in the months to come. I feel that justice is still the best way to organize society.

Aristotle wrote 300 years ago in his Nicomacean Ethics that a just society, once built, would be nearly impossible to dismantle and that the same stood for an unjust society. That is good news if we lived in a just society. That is bad news here. Bad news in the real world... bad news on Steemit.

One thing that I really appreciate is freedom. You are free to decide where to put your effort... where to put your money and how to navigate life. You can put your money under your mattress, store it in Bitcoin or in a bank. You can invest in a pyramid scheme, sell crack to your neighbours or you could volunteer in a soup kitchen. You face the consequences of your actions, but you are free to do as you will. The consequences seem to be the real check on freedom... and they exist in the real world and on steem.

In the real world you can go to jail, get boycotted, praised for your generosity or your contribution to society... depending on how you choose to carry yourself.

In steem, it is much the same. You can get flagged and downvoted, boycotted... have movements started to bring you to justice... or you can be praised for your contribution to the platform.

In steem... there are all sorts of freedoms. You can delegate your steem to a robot who will pay you high interest. If you aren't into curation but are into multiplying your funds... you can do that, just like in the real world. You can even make an army of robots, all armed with significant steem power and upvote the shit out of your posts. Again, you face the consequences of your action... but you can do that, in the real world that might be like deciding on politics and robbing the taxpayer to pad your lifestyle. It happens... often.

Protests are everywhere... the environmental damage... The economic injustice... the abuse of power... the disparity of sex... race... gender... age... the list goes on. Protests are democracy in action. When power is not in your hands, your voice is your power... and the power is exposed based on how they react to a protest... which will validate or destroy that power.

There is no shortage of protest on Steem... and we will all see how these protests play out.

Protests push change forward... but also hold change back. Protesters can shame people into staying in line... there is nothing intrinsically wrong with wanting to make interest on your money. You earned it... you can spend it where you want. On steemit, there is great shame in abandoning the common people who are fighting for table scraps. Much like in the real world... there is that working class pride. Stay down here with the hungry... you wouldn't be happy with a full plate.

I think there are ways to have a full plate and keep your integrity. I think that there is a great abundance that all of us could have a full plate... and none would be left out... but there needs to be justice.

What does justice look like? That is a big book, not a blog post. To paraphrase that book... it looks like everyone getting what they deserve. We are a long way off in the real world... kings have their time stolen so they can eat and vermin who have contributed nothing but to human suffering occupy castles. On steemit there are the same problems. So many contribute so much but have only 1 cent votes pay them for their great contribution... others upvote their comment and make hundreds.

I agree that people who have slugged it out longer and have contributed to the development of something great... they deserve more. There is justice in an ocean of whales and minnows... Some people deserve little as they contribute little. Some contribute a ton and see a ton in return. It is the non contributor that still somehow makes out like a bandit that skews justice in both the world and the wild wild web.

Do I have solutions? No. I can only point out the problems for what it is worth. Justice is the solution. Implementing said justice is and has been the problem since long before Aristotle's writing.

These are just some random thoughts on life on and offline and how the problems seem to be pretty much the same. I hope you enjoyed and look forward to some discussion... as this is what I am putting this out for... and your sweet upvotes ;)