It's difficult to get by this idea that Steem/SBD is little more than another form of "Monopoly Money."

In a sense, that seems like it might be one of the hurdles standing in the way of cryptocurrencies gaining so-called "mass adoption." And, at the very least, this isn't actual money we have here (as you said, it becomes real when you can pay a bill or buy a taco with it), but something more like an investment. Even in the "real" world, you don't get your vanilla latte with stock options.

We made an account here as a possible alternative and in-addition-to Patreon for the exact reason that it's almost impossible to get people to part with their actual cash to help an emerging non-profit organization, but maybe they'd be willing to click a button to donate a few cents of this not-sure-if-it's-real money.

In a sense, perhaps the most worthy thing here is that the structure does seem to offer a bit of a training ground in the practice of giving and paying it forward.