Steem is one of the experiments that is laying the foundation to a new form of basic income. This is going to continue over the next decade to the point where everyone is receiving a basic income that enables them to attain a degree of lifestyle.
Certainly, the basic income isn't going to make people rich but it will allow for the necessities.
We see all kinds of experiments taking place though they are focused in the wrong direction. They are looking for governments to provide the income which is just adding another layer to slavery. Basic income is about freedom; putting the government in control of it is the exact opposite of this.
So what is meant to run the basic income and how do we pay for it?
The truth is, for the most part, it is already paid for. We simply need to readjust the way the payout is done. Essentially, the Internet is the guarantor of the income.
We are in the process of developing another Internet. The first one was a wonderful creation yet it is not working for the vast majority of people. Since it is now controlled by a number of centralized entities, we simply have another master.
This is where blockchain enters the picture.
We are soon going to be in a world where blockchain and cloud are interwoven; where AI is running though it assembling, sorting, and categorizing the data that is created. In the process, we are going to see automation killing millions of jobs hurting those who can least afford it.
A blockchain based Internet is about to make everyone into Jed Clampett (that is from the show The Beverly Hillbillies).
Data is the new oil and we all are sitting upon it.
The Internet is already a treasure-trove of data. It is presently mined and controlled. The only problem is our individual data is in the hands of the likes of Facebook, Google, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft. They are the ones who profit from it, not us.
This is where the change is going to have to take place. Sovereignty is going to mean ownership of one's data. And with crypto-economics, it can be the foundation of income for every human on the planet.
Steem is potentially going to play a major part in this. The reason for this is data, on its own, has little use. It needs to be interwoven throughout an ecosystem like Steem. There needs to be activity which appears random yet tells a story for each individual. Facebook knows this. A single upvote means nothing. When that vote is, however, viewed in relation to thousands of other votes, it takes on meaning.
To have a system like this, scalability is necessary. Bitcoin, for all its attributes, is going to have to be happy as digital gold unless the scaling issue can be solved. The same holds true for Ethereum.
One of the biggest advantages of Steem is that it is built to scale. We are seeing very little issue with added traffic or applications. With some of the recent changes that are about to be completed, we will see an increase in the potential to scale the system even more.
Steem initially rewarded people for content. This was the Proof-Of-Brain introduced to the world. Now, we see the evolution to the Proof-Of-Activity where the merging of the physical and digital worlds is taking place. Applications are using the CLEAN and AFIT tokens to reward their users for particular activities. The posts made to the blockchain are proof of what was performed.
Could set see another evolution on the Steem blockchain to move towards a means of controlling data? Perhaps it is something some are working on. Of course, it is just as likely as coming from another source since this is a topic many are trying to address. It is truly going to change the make up of society when completed.
One of the major changes that is going to take place, and not by choice for most, is the decoupling of productivity from "work". Our entire system links "work" and "money" together. With the full court press that companies are going to provide through their adoption of automation, the fundamental concept is going to collapse. Basic income is going to help people through the transition.
Cryptocurrency is ideally suited for this purpose. Now that there is a way to reward people for their data, there is going to come a time when people demand control over it. After all, why should companies such as Facebook and Google generate billions for their shareholders at our expense. This is something that people are going to wake up to.
After all, we are the product.
If someone wants the data, they can pay us.
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