Investors and earners: are they committed?

Just by the title, this is already going to be a subjective post but, I think it is worth the discussion or at least, some thought put in behind it as both sides come up often. It is obvious that we need investors to increasingly choose to buy into Steem and since it is at the core of the concept, we need earners who are willing to work in various ways to be rewarded in Steem.

I mentioned the other day that I was both investor and earner here and although there were some semantic arguments, I still see that as true. The reason is that even though I have mostly earned (I have bought some Steem with fiat) my stake here, I have also taken earnings, invested into other projects, sold and then bought back in. So, this makes me an investor of at least some sort and definitely an earner on the platform. Which side of me is more committed? Well, it is hard to tease them apart when it has been done the way I have done it so, lets look at a scenario or two from a true investor perspective.

Scenario 1:

Let's say someone has 100K dollars worth of fiat to buy in with and bought 7 cent Steem last March giving them 1.4 Million Steem and a current value of 1.4 million dollars. 1.3 million profit is not a bad year and a half's work for most people.

Are they committed?

Scenario 2:

Let's say that they bought 100K dollars at the same time with BTC that they had originally paid 1000 dollars for the BTC. They have the same 1.4 million Steem, have sunk the same 100K value.

Are they committed?

Does where the 100K dollars come from matter and, does it matter what it took to get it? Absolutely. Let's assume that in both scenarios, the fiat was earned through work and savings. In general, to be able to save 100k takes more work than 1k, years more work and likely at a job that carries more responsibility and takes more sacrifices. The 100k although equivalent, are not likely viewed in the same way by each person as the personal cost of acquisition was vastly different.

Let's hold that thought a moment and look at earners.

Scenario 3:

Lets say that someone came onto the platform early and earned 100K Steem through posting, engaging, commenting, link dropping and general hustle and effort. They were lucky and got some whale support but, also worked harder than most to get towhere they are.

Are they committed?

Scenario 4:

Let's say that there is someone else who came in at the same time and for whatever reason, got favoured heavily, received free delegation and enjoyed high support regardless the effort or engagement level they put in. They could post, sit back and do nothing, and still earn their 100k Steem.

Are they committed?

Does it matter how much work it takes to earn the same amount of Steem? Are those who get it easier for whatever reason as engaged on the platform, as likely to power up, comment, help users. Are they as likely to be here through thick and thin or, do they disappear if times get hard, do they complain if their support drops?

As an example, I came across an account (one of about 10 in a circle) that has earned 10% more total Steem than I have on 1/4 of the posts (450) and only has 270 comments to their name in two years of being on the platform. They post daily yet only drop a comment every few days without answering most of the comments they get, even though they only get two or three in total on posts that even now are hitting 60 dollars every post without a bidbot in sight. They are in a constant power down and take all liquids out to Bittrex. Are they committed or, are they milking the system? There are many such accounts that have had an easy run of it and many that still do.

These things are things to think about for as I see it, there is a correlation between the effort it takes to earn the Steem and how committed one is to the platform. There are many people selling off now who were investors but, perhaps that even though prices are low, they are still taking very large profits on their initial investments and of they are crypto-made players over the long term, they could be up 10,000s of percent on their initial buys of Bitcoin or Ethereum for example. There are people who have earned doing the hard yards and they tend to fight for the platform and, keep pushing themselves and, helping others.

We need investors, we need earners, we need engagement, we need Steem moving, we need a whole range of things to get this platform operating healthily but, does it require a commitment to the platform or, is it going to happen if everyone just has an investor mindset where as long as there are profits, it's all good or, when steem goes up, time to sell?

I don't know but when it comes to choosing investors for a project, it is important that they are investors who understand the timelines and aren't going to pull the plug mid way through development. For the earners who have it easy, I am glad they sell but I wish they still didn't have it easy as there are many doing it hard who could likely use the Steem in more useful ways.

There is a lot of variation when it comes to what people are willing and to what depth they are willing to commit to something, whether it be a relationship, job, investment or community like this one. There is also variation in what they think commitment actually is and whether they are curious enough to find out.

As I see it, it is like the money given to a child for allowance or the allowance earned by that child by doing odd jobs. When something is earned, it is much harder to part with and whatever is bought with it is seen as much more valuable, including investments. This of course brings in another question, how does one evaluate what is earned?

It all gets very personal and as I said, the entire thing is subjective. Quality is subjective, what is good engagement is subjective and, what people think the future holds is subjective. The only thing that is objective is that one day we are going to look back at these points and say, we did it or it failed.

People are happy to commit to credit for success but much less likely to take responsibility for their role in a failure. At the end of the day though, we all have a part to play no matter where we end up.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]