The house always wins

It'll be 18:00 my time in Finland that the expected hardfork is going to go through and I will likely still be at work, but I am confident it will go relatively smoothly... kinda confident. Perhaps. At least, this one has been tested somewhat by a wider circle than the last...

Remember that one?

While I have only "survived" a handful, I like the anticipation associated with Hardforks as it makes me feel more connected to what happens here and, it tries to press my ownership buttons to make me fear what it all might mean if it comes crashing down or, breaks the community.

FUD

Live it. Love it. Don't give in to it.

Well, you can give into it if you choose, but I don't have to. It is one of those funny things with the FUD spreaders as they tend to get more traction than those who are on the opposite side of the equation. This is definitely one area where getting support is not indicative of success as leveraging fear for attention and change is the game of authoritarians and, since the fear of loss weighs twice as heavy as that of gain, it is the unskilled move.

How many times have you heard someone say that I had the opportunity to invest into XXXX but I didn't? Why didn't they? Sure there is fear of loss involved, but often people turn to the people they trust in times of uncertainty for advice and, if that advice is don't be a fool it often is enough to rein in the boldness and stop the forray into uncertainty. There are quite a few fools who didn't listen and bought Bitcoin - or any number of other successful startup businesses that people said "you are crazy" for investing into.

Of course, taking risk doesn't mean being foolish or naive about the future potential and those who lost their houses "investing" into scams like Bitconnect did so out of pure greed. Do not feel too sorry for them. Greed is a massive driver of investment by amateurs who do not know how to temper their emotions.

On Steem I often talk about the impatience of many people who want everything to happen today, but that inability to wait isn't just impatience, it is the dollar signs in the eyes being spent on the things they have imagined buying - and they can't wait. It doesn't matter if the system needs upgrading, it doesn't matter if the community is too small, it doesn't matter who it could impact - they want to satisfy their hunger now, at near any cost. That goes beyond impatience.

I look long on my crypto investments because even though I would love to knock out some debt and create a cushion to land upon in the advent of a fall, I believe that there is a great deal more energy in the marketplace than people realize. Crypto and blockchain is going to take in trillions in investments and generate entirely new industries in the coming decade - and a decade is not too long at all.

Sure, a lot can happen in that time that would wipe away any investments of time, energy and money I have put in, but that is a small downside for a chance at the potential upside. Every day billions of people enter lotteries in the hope that for a few dollars they will strike it rich while those same people won't necessarily see the potential of the same amount put into a long-term investment strategy. They don't want to wait, they would rather have the near insurmountable odds stacked against them. I put the odds of winning the crypto lottery much higher than that of any state-owned gambling operation.

But, to each their own, right?

We hear this saying a lot when it comes to cultural issues and kinks these days, but on Steem people expect that the more stake someone has, the more generous they are supposed to be with it. Charity starts at home. It is hard to take people seriously who blame the whales for "not sharing" when they themselves are stingy with their own giving.

It doesn't really matter how much someone has, human nature is what human nature does and for the most part, it is about self-preservation and maximization of personal values and resources. That is a general statement, but if you identify with it positively or negatively, you are likely doing the same in some way, even if it isn't about finance.

I am hoping that the economic model of #newsteem encourages people to take responsibility for the ownership of their experience and what they have or could have. I can't take people seriously who complain about rewards on Steem but are unwilling to alter their approach to generating them, and I am not going to support people who are constantly doing this. Why would I?

It is a funny technique to complain about lack of support and bitch about a system to the very people who have bought into that system and support it by holding their stake here- and they are the people who need to vote in order to spread the reward. Why would they vote on criticism? Proof of Brain failure. It can still be listened to without having to push it into the spotlight. I would rather give my vote to some douche from YouTube who has a million followers that might join Steem, than constantly lift the voice of complaint.

This is the problem with the world today, because we have created platforms for people to air their grievances for attention without having to actually create any kind of solution for waht is aired. It is bandstanding and all about attention for the ego, not performance of the character. Character online seems more fluid than genders these days, as people wear and shed skins in moments as they shift their digital personalities to fit and support whatever argument is "winning" at the time, not realizing that they actually stand for nothing.

For me, Steem ownership is partly about my character as it is about having a place that I can rely on, I can build upon, I can affect independently and with the people I choose to spend my time with. Tomorrow's hardfork is looking for me, all of the mes out there who are looking long on Steem and in so doing, stabilizing the chain for an influx of people who are looking to have their interests and loves supported on the layers above.

While I hope the Hardfork goes smoothly tomorrow, it doesn't really matter for many people, because whatever the outcomes, they will never see the benefit of investment. Gamblers bet, but the house always wins.

I am building a Steem house, in a city filled with Steem houses and more are being built every day.

Roll the dice.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]