SHOCKED AT THE STEEM COMMUNITY - IN THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY.
This will be way shorter than my usual posts. It is more a way to pass comment on something I witnessed first hand tonight (Sunday UK time)
Two members of our community have been having the worst imaginable time of late and @davemccoy reached out on behalf of this lovely couple. Within minutes I heard about it in 2 Discord groups and decided to become involved in whatever small way I could. Over the next hour I saw Discord blow up with our fantastic community members rallying to get the word out. I saw the post from Dave hit almost $140 within a few hours all in aid of 2 of our friends who needed somewhere to lean for a little respite.
I glimpsed for a few brief moments just what we are capable of here, when we come together, when we care and when we show it. Many may view us as just a virtual community but I challenge them! Every PC, laptop, tablet or phone has a real person sitting in front of it, an honest to goodness flesh and blood person with a beating heart, emotions and empathy.
There is nothing virtual about us friends, nothing. World governments take note. We the people are able to gather, rally and carry eachother through the fire when we must. You are the people in power who should set the precedent of how people can and should behave and here we are teaching you something big, something valuable. I love that we can be moved to tears with compassion for those we have not yet met.
At the risk of sounding pompous and more than a little condescending I feel very proud as I finish up and head off to bed, proud of what has been achieved here. We will not make global news or even local news, no statues will be erected nor plaques unveiled and nor should they be but I have even more faith than I had in the human spirit, thankyou to those who helped warm my heart albeit through circumstances that I wish were not transpiring.
Some of the more cynical and embittered among our ranks may find this post to be trite, juvenile and exhibit an overtly naive, utopian view of the world of the blockchain, of our community. To them I say fine, I even understand why you think that way but I think that often-times you see what you expect to see when you cast your eye about your fellow man.
Make a decision of how you want our first foray into the decentralised world to be viewed with hindsight by future generations and make it happen!
Best wishes to everbody who stopped by, may your journey be fortuitous, fulfilling and fun :)
Image courtesy of Pixabay.
Thanks for sharing your perspective on this story. It is certainly touching and they are a great supportive couple. I found you through the Pay it Forward contest. You were featured by @elsiekjay. Congratulations and best wishes.
What a wonderful, inspiring read that was.
The irony is, regular people have always been the ones with the real power.
Society creates an illusion where certain men/women portray themselves, or rather, their positions as the source of power when in reality, it's just a matter of perspective. Especially in a democracy.
The web has shown us all the power we have as a collective force and the traditional establishment fear this truth. This is why we are constantly bombarded with news designed to divide us all as much as possible.
I believe that blockchain technology is the natural evolution of the internet and one day it will unite us all into an unstoppable community built on anarchy.
The non-violent cooperative communist type that comes from decentralization. We could literally make the idea of an establishment irreverent and remove all borders. This is the power that is at our fingertips. Thankfully, by the time that the bureaucrats realize this, it will be too late.
Regarding your blog, it's lovely to hear how you witnessed first-hand the power of this community and the empathy of real people behind the screen. I think a community built upon 'real people' is what makes this community special with so much potential. As apposed to automated bots hoovering up the rewards.
Hope you have a nice day buddy.
Wow! We all love a little feedback on our ideas and musings, but...
Just WOW!
We have incredibly similar views on the state of the nation, politics and the planet no less. We must exercise and harness this new -found power which admittedly is still in it's infancy, then again as a species, I think we are too. Any tool can be implemented for benevolence or to inflict draconian ideals over any group.
Finally, it has taken a while but I believe that our resolve is the stronger in the battle of wills that lies ahead. For a little while at-least we must continue to play the dutiful jigsaw pieces that we are perceived to be and carry on going to work and doing mundane almost conformist activities.
Beneath the surface we are the personification of an idea who's time has come. don't know about you my friend (actually I suspect I do!) but I could so go for a little anarchic fun right now. Underpinning all of this revolutionary power we will yield I hope that for the most-part it is underpinned with the social and moral responsibility that is not, has not and will never be demonstrated by those despots to whom we hand the reins of power. these initiatives must be organic and befitting of each person's Internally guided principles of course as I think the word "responsibility" has some unpalatable connotations.
I genuinely wish you the very best of luck, not that luck is likely to be a factor my friend!
Can I ask if you are on Discord? I hope so, If so, look me up (same name) I would love to share a little information with you. 3 weeks ago I had never heard of Discord now I cannot imagine my life without it, it has opened several doors for me and features classes, curation contests, niche specific help and so, so much more.
Thankyou so much, the boost in confidence from amazing, well thought out feedback helps us along in the early days, then those crazy exponentials kick in and carry us forward with real momentum :)
what's popping man?don't know if you still remember me? its been quite a while I been on here that's why i haven't been that active....the post was great, i must confess. It caught my attention. lastly, i claim the good wishes you gave to those who stopped by....together we win fam
Heyy Caesar :)
I most certainly do remember you my friend, anytime I leave real, heartfelt comments my mind creates a link. I am certain we spoke of poverty and better opportunities for the world and of 3 meals a day representing success?
I will check soon, but I am pretty certain I am right. I hope your journey is back on and heading in the right direction, man, I'm always around if you want me :)
My good wishes are always waiting to be claimed, I am glad you chose to grab onto them my friend. I hope your day/ week/ month are spectacular ;)
Yeah man thanks a lot
Nice post @stevenwood ... As you probably know by now, you were one of the Comment Contest #2 winners, and your SteemBasicIncome nomination has been submitted. It usually takes a few days for the team to manually process; they're working on an automated system to speed things up.
Congratulations, and keep in touch. It's been fun. Watch for Contest #3...past winners are not exempt from entering.
I wouldn't miss it, thankyou so much.
It was nice to have a chance to share my views on a more socially aware, nurturing platform...BUT...It resulted in my first ever SBI share so actually...
Double thankyou, I feel like my journey has now begun in earnest :)
It's been a minute since we caught up :)
Also noticed you have beena away this last few days, I just dropped by your page to fimd his amazing piece. It is very encouraging to see that the community is working towards the good of the platform. Its so lovely to read about the impact you guys made for this couple. That is why I have opted to feature you in this weeks #Payitforward curation contest initiated by @thedarkhorse.
You can read about it here
I feel you are among those that deserve alittle bit more recognition than you are currently getting. I genuinely enjoy reading your content. Thank you for the many times you crack me up.
That is such a lovely comment! Thankyou so much @elsiekjay. Alas I have been working a lot but after my night-shift tonight I will have 6 Steem-days :D
I am extremely grateful you chose my post and I will be sure to stop-by and check out everyone who is featured.
Always nice to see you around my friend, you are very special and very important to this community we have here. Take great care and have an amazing day :D
I certainly share your point of view on this @stevenwood. I had the distinct pleasure of meeting @lynncoyle1 on my first night on the Discord channel ASAPers. I could tell immediately that she was a genuine person. To be allowed into her and @briancorteaus struggle has been heartbreaking but seeing the support they have garnered through this platform brings a huge sense of the type of people we have living in this world.
Great post brother!
Anyone who finds this post to be "trite or juvenile" is a bloody git who should be strung up by their bollocks.
p.s. Looks like I missed out on the chance to upvote on this due to the time before payout.
As ever you eloquently explain the greatest way to string up a person buddy, this really seems to be a speciality of yours!
Thanks so much for the feedback man, It is greatly appreciated. I had exactly the same view of @lynncoyle1 and @briancorteau and I met a lot more people who I now consider friends because of them.
Yup the community spirit and sense of looking after our own blew me away, I already knew I was in exactly the place I needed to be but, boy did this compound that feeling within me.
Unfortunately there's not a huge market here in the U.S. for stringing people up by their bollocks or otherwise. Due to this I've had to fall back on more mundane pursuits. Sigh!