Hi Steemit,
I'm Mia. I'm here for a couple of reasons, but the most pressing among them is a desire for community. I'm a journalist with libertarian leanings, and that can be a lonely existence when your peers and colleagues think you live in a utopian fantasy land.
When I was young, I had an inherently anti-authoritarian point of view, but it wasn't until my late teens and early 20s that I started to shape that into a political, social and economic identity, structured around the principles of self-ownership, non-aggression and voluntary exchange.
Now, as a reporter, I channel that angst into holding the feet of the officials I cover to the fire. Admittedly, I get a buzz from calling someone out on their broken oaths and misspent money, but I get no joy out of the fact that it's something I have to watch for.
What I love most is showing the power of creative people to enhance their communities. Like the pediatrician who is better serving her patients by getting out of the insurance game, or the woman who wants to help feed the hungry by building small, outdoor food pantries and placing them throughout the city.
Meanwhile, I see politicians throw money away on "bridge to nowhere" projects while the roads look like war zones. These often are publicly funded and are generally sold to the unsuspecting public as the "catalyst" for a bright economic future, even after it's all but defunct.
I see cities increase their annual bond issue year after year, even after announcing a "borrow less, save more" financial policy. It disgusts me, and this is where I'm not alone among my peers and colleagues.
Where I am alone is in the desire to provoke a new way of looking at the problems. When the system fails, the explanation always seems to be "try harder, spend more, increase power." But perhaps it's time to look at it from another perspective, to ask instead if we should try something different.
Everyday, I see people beg government to do something about "assault rifle" violence while neglecting to call for an end to the mass carnage we've inflicted overseas. I see protests for a $15 minimum wage without anyone ever stopping to ask why the value of their dollars is forever depreciating. I see small businesses struggle to keep up with burdensome standards that are unfair to ask of someone on a modest budget.
We're asking them to solve problems they created in the first place. That's insane.
Perhaps it's time to see what kind of opportunities innovative people can dream up and implement without impediments. Steemit is a great example of this as it applies to the tech industry, which has historically been a much freer institution. It's a literal marketplace of ideas, where the valuable content is lifted up and the junk content is quickly forgotten.
My philosophical leanings haven't interfered with my ability to report the news in a thorough and unbiased manner. My strategy is simply to state what happened and what was said. Let people decide for themselves what to make of it. And that's still what I plan to do here.
I hope to expand and enhance my understanding of complex social, economic and political matters and learn from other Steemit users. My goal is to offer and discuss new ideas and new questions and to look for ways to make the future brighter for ourselves without making it darker for someone else.
You can find more from me on Twitter: @MiaSummerson.
