Citizen Steem
We live in large world that is continually getting smaller through travel and of course, technology. This shrinking brings with it a huge range of issues for as humans, we are wired to be wary of strangers. This is why we form communities that have a lot of cultural and value overlap so that we can feel somewhat connected and safe.
If we look at nationality for example, it is possible to see a diverse range of people brought somewhat together under one flag which connects all but, also has a lot of issues as we can witness throughout history and by the looks of things, in the future history too.
But, for any nation to function well it requires a diverse range of personalities who hold a wide range of skills, interests and life goals. This eclectic range of people causes a lot of conflicts and differing opinions but is also a source of inspiration for innovation. It is this continual problem solving and reevaluation of values that helps drive humanity forward.
Within a nation there are citizens that act within the system in various ways but essentially, we are also within the meta system of the globe and are all world citizens. This sounds quite silly but we all have some effect on everyone else through the ways we choose to act or not act.
Steemit is a good example of the shrinking world and also of the world citizen concept as the representation of nationality, religion, culture and values are very wide indeed and the various approaches implemented by people on the platform cause many conflicts between users.
Steemit has the chance to redefine what it means to be a nation in many ways and already has a working, growing and usable global currency with which to operate and interact with other nations, current and coming. I thought it would be interesting to go through what citizenship means and would love if people could add more detail in the comments section.
There are many definitions of what a good citizen is that look at education, science literacy or one's willingness to stand up for what they believe in or for the general value systems of the nation in which they operate.
"The first requisite of a good citizen in this Republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his weight." - Theodore Roosevelt
The problem of course at Steemit is that there is no nation, no flag, no governing body. It is a decentralized system where effectively anyone can enter from any point and act in whatever manner they choose, freely. Well, almost freely as the flag system and the voting system is some kind of restriction on users. But, all in all, a Steemit citizen is largely uncensored and unbounded by a governing set of rules.
This makes 'pulling their weight' difficult as this will inevitably mean many different things for different types of users but, what the overall arch means is that a 'good' citizen does what they can to add some value to the nation. This can be approached in many different ways of course by each user.
There are the educators who look to increase awareness of Steemit, Steem, cryptocurrencies, posting advice and a whole range of technical information. There are also the educators that focus on the walking world interactions users may experience across health, psychology, philosophy, society, politics, science, religion. Education is a large part of any nation's long-term view and there is a lot of value in good quality and practicality.
There are of course the artists too and as I see it, this is also a type of education. Our real-world is continually decreasing access to art as children and as a result, creativity on a whole is also reducing. At Steemit there are painters, drawers, writers, photographers who all bring their unique skills into the platform and can inspire others to explore their own creative pursuits.
There are also the financiers, bankers, backers, patrons who support a whole range of activities including the development of the platform and the support of actors within the nation to continue doing what they do. It is these people who can slowly spread and empower others to share their investment load.
Like in any society, there are also the seedier sides of citizenship, the ones that are looking to take more than they provide. The spammers, the plagiarists, the 100% self-voters and the many scammers looking to fleece other citizens out of their value. Although these people are undesirable in large numbers, dealing with them actually helps drive innovation and strengthen the platform's underlying value system.
There are obviously many more categories and a lot of detail and caveats can go into each section however, that should be enough for consideration at this point.
This Steemit nation of ours is in its infancy and has a long way to go hopefully and the more I am here, the more I write and think about the opportunity, the more I speak with members within, the more I am willing to invest of myself. We really do have a chance to impact on our walking world and create something that is value adding for all involved but, this does take investment from each citizen.
What I think is that each user should take a little time to consider their role within Steemit and find a way they can both benefit from and add value to the platform. Consider what it means to be a citizen of a decentralized global nation where there is no manufactured culture, no organized religion, no common value system or any other authority dictating action.
The incentive is of course there to take advantage of the system as is but, that limits future value which is of course a short-term view that undercuts all. Patience itself should be exercised at Steemit and many forget that the site itself is only a little more than a year and a half old and has a lot of maturing to do.
Like any new nation, there are going to be many teething problems and like yesterday's attack on the platform, those who do not want it to succeed. The thing is that if we do our homework and work largely together, all of these challenges can be largely mitigated and we can move faster and further than any nation in history.
What this takes though is large amounts of people willing to act well as there is no government to make our decisions for us. We govern ourselves which means if we fail, it will also be because of us. No one to blame, full responsibility.
This is why Steemit is so attractive to me personally as because in here, I get to decide my direction without being governed by an average for all. There is massive value in this concept and it will spread if we create it to do so and that will ramp up benefits for all citizens. Who knows where all of this will lead but, it could lead to a new kind of sovereignty where we are borderless and each person within is empowered to be their best for themselves and each other.
Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]
I'm really happy I found your profile, this is the second posts of yours I've read and If I agreed more we would be the same person. I think the Steemit environment is moving on the right direction, organically developing defense mechanisms to weed out its bad citizens with a growing user base that desires to keep it clean. There is of course no way to make it bullet proof to scammers, spam bots and all the other annoyances that come with the online ecosystem but the fact that as users we are willing to report them, flag them and warn the community when a scammer is around gives me hope that eventually most of them will give up, and the ratio of crap vs valuable content will become even more positive. In any case, thank you for sharing @tarazkp
Yes, my hope is the same that as a community we can essentially reduce the 'undesirable' contingent through community action. I also think that it is possible to reduce it by making real content creation more attractive. This all takes time though.
Welcome back anytime.
I do agree and appreciate a lot of the sentiment that you are talking about here and it is indeed inspiring. But I would argue that we do have some form of government and we are governed through hardforks and new developements as SMTs.
Yes, this is the case in many respects but how we use those developments is largely up to us if you know what I mean. The more the platform matures, the more culture and value systems will guide action also. In these formative days, we have more power to shape what we grow into, kind of like a child's formative years largely shape their future.
What I am hoping is that in the 'whatever future' we are engaged and incentivised enough to be useful members and beneficiaries. Whatever this means must be different to whatever exists in the world now as the current systems are fast failing.
I do know what you mean and I think it can be argued (I'm not 100% sure about the technical stuff) that we can also have a direct effect on hardforks and everything else as we do vote for witnesses and a hardfork works only because the witnesses make it work (again, if I have understood how this works correctly).
Still, while the system is internally decentralized, to me it feels like it is being governed with hardforks being the tool to do so.
Of course, I wholeheartedly agree that the community has a huge role to play and I'm sure what people are vocal about wanting influences what gets implemented.
The fact that the average, ordinary person can make a living from Steem alone now speaks wonders of what's to come.
And I love it because we're newbie-friendly, focusing on real values and not business alone to be "successful."
Yes, I think this is a salient point many miss as for the moment at least, we are more community, less monetized which is strange considering the concept.
Hi bro, well written and truly agree on your points. Steemit being borderless is bring brotherhood even closer than ever. Hope, it will be well used for the positive benefit but not the other way round......and nice writtings from you bro....keep up the great job ;)