Steem Delegation - How "Trickle Down Economics" is really supposed to work and how do we delegate steem

Trickle-down economics, also referred to as trickle-down theory, is an economic theory  that advocates reducing taxes on businesses and the wealthy in society  as a means to stimulate business investment in the short term and  benefit society at large in the long term. - Wikipedia

It did not really work in the corporate empire that runs the world right now, but it is working brilliantly here on the Steem blockchain because people 'get it' and exercise the true spirit and intent of this theory.  This theory needed a gifting economy in order for it to work.  The Steem blockchain produces a pool of steem each day that people give to one another through their upvotes.  It does not cost the giver anything as the steem does not come from his / her own resources.  Instead it is drawn from the pool as more steem is generated as a result of the work the artists do here.

When people like @FullTimeGeek delegated his steem to 49 other people, he literally engaged in the trickle-down economic model by gifting the use of steem that he would have normally been using himself.  His wealth is still his and he can withdraw it at any time if he chooses.  However, by delegating steem to other people, he is building a stronger community and over time that will be his reward as the price of steem will increase.  

I recognize the spirit and intent of this idea and I've embraced it as well.  I've delegated all my steem to 9 others and I use the steem he delegated to me to continue my work curating and being an author here on this platform.  I've encouraged the Stewards of Terra Mater to not pay me back, but rather pay it forward so that the ripple effects of this economic theory can be felt throughout the world.  I'm rewarded by the increase in the price of steeml AND by the publicity which brings more followers to my blog.  

So how does one delegate steem?  

If you visit steemd.com, you will notice in the top left corner a status window that shows you your voting weight.  Under that weight is how much steem power I have (4804) plus steem power that @fulltimegeek delegated to me (10024) minus steem power that I delegated to other people (4723).  Your status will look different but I share this to point out that if somebody delegated steem to you, it is not available to be delegated to somebody else.  The system does not allow me to delegate @fulltimegeek steem to others.  I can only delegate my own steem.  So when your wallet shows a different number, don't freak out.  

What this is showing you is the balance between delegated steem coming in and going out.  It is not an indication that I delegated somebody else steem.  

Going back to steemd.com, if I look down the left column of statistics on my account, I will come across a section about vests.

Vests are short form for 'inVESTment' into the Steem system.  When we take steem and 'power up', we are making a long term commitment to the community.  Think of it as voting shares in a corporation, even though there is no corporation, but they work in similar ways.  When we power up our inVESTment in the system increases, reflected by the vests and as a result our vote power increases.  We can then reward other users by gifting larger shares of the reward pool as our voting influence increases at the same time.  

@fulltimegeek delegated over 20 million vests (voting shares) to me which works out to over 10,000 steem.  This number I cannot touch.  The number I'm interested in is the 'Vesting Shares' that I have.  This is what I can delegate to other people.  The 'Delegated vesting shares' is how much I've already delegated.  The difference is what is available to delegate if I choose.  

So how do we delegate?

First step is to find somebody that you want to support.  What I look for is somebody who has very little steem power, writing on homesteading, off-grid living or working on their spiritual growth, peace, freedom, etc.  When I find somebody I want to support, I then visit www.steemworld.org, click on 'Balances' in the left column which displays a new screen in the right.  In that screen is a button called 'Delegate SP'.  

You enter in the id of the individual you want to delegate to and then enter in how much steem power (SP) you want to delegate.  The window will convert that to vests and you can check to make sure it does not exceed the actual amount of vests that you have to delegate.  You will need your Active Key to authenticate the transaction, which you can find in your wallet | permissions.  If you click on 'Login to show', it will then show you the key to use.

After the authentication, you can then visit the individuals wallet to confirm the transfer.  If at any time you want to remove the delegation, repeat the process.  Except this time you would enter zero in the SP field and it will remove the delegation.  Note:  when you do this, the steem power is removed from the user immediately, but it takes a week before you can use it again.  So it sits in limbo for a while.  

When you delegate your steem power to somebody else, you cannot use it yourself, so your own voting power will decrease.  But it enriches the lives of other people and gives them a boost to help them get started.  @fulltimegeek delegated steem to me and I delegated my steem to others.  When I vote, it is as a result of the delegation from @fulltimegeek.  When the members of Stewards of Terra Mater vote, it is due to their own steem plus what I delegated to them.  The trickle-down theory really does work and it is changing the lives of everyone impacted by those who are willing to make the paradigm shift in thinking, behaving and living.