Quite a few people have questioned my investment strategy which is essentially, work my ass off and hold all I can. Most of my holdings are in Steem but I have diversified somewhat because well, I am not completely crazy. What I like about Steem is the ability to earn on it without selling it but most importantly, there is a real community backing it.
It feels arbitrary to say about the community backing a project but the importance is immense as are the potentials of a coin with social use and the ability to monetize any platform through SMTs. I think that there may be some good SMT projects but I have a feeling that where the largest gains will be made is in established business models partnering with Steem through SMTs to add a value layer they are currently struggling with.
The monetization of online content is a difficult sell in some cases as it has always been thought of as either free or, powered by advertising. As the issues with free propaganda and fake news becomes apparent, as well as censorship concerns because of advertising revenues and of course, the high price of middlemen, models like Steem may just become the new norm.
It is because of things like this that I am willing to take the risk. Someone said today that he hopes I don't have all my money in Steem because of the risk and I guess the answer is no, I have very little money in Steem or in the real world but, I do have a lot of value in it.
My personal approach to this risk is that it has cost me a great deal of time and energy but, the value of my time today is a pittance in comparison to the potential value of my time if Steem behaves as I personally predict. As I see it, most people suffer from a glass ceiling mentality.
Normally a glass ceiling is an invisible social construct that doesn't allow one to advance past a certain point but I think that it can be applied to the attitude many people take in their approach to various aspects of life, especially that of future potentials. Humans aren't very good at predicting the future value of things and suffer from blindness of the immediate struggle and an inability to imagine much more than they currently experience.
It is like when recently in Finland pensioners complained about losing 12 euros a month but, supported an 18 billion euro purchase of several fighter jets to protect against a threat they cannot defend. That amount would have covered the gap in their pension for the next 250 years. Or that a billion in 100 dollar notes is a semitrailer full meaning that, the 1.4 trillion bailout for the banks 10 years ago was 1400 semis full of 100s. That is about 23 kilometers of trucks driving end to end carrying 100s. There are things humans aren't good at imagining.
I don't put Steem in the same category as Bitcoin because of supply but, it is severely undervalued if you consider usage and with the way the world is driving ever faster toward socially attached entertainment and gamified living, the potentials for such projects are huge.
When it comes to the technical details I am terribly weak but, markets are driven by sentiment and there is nothing more sentimental than a group of people who have worked hard to build something together and feel connected to what they have done. I don't think there is a content producer big or small here today who would be happy if all of their work suddenly got expunged from the system. There are others wishing for this most likely.
The ideal investment is one that has a much, much greater upside than potential downside and even though I have sunk personal resources in, the upside is still far greater in my opinion. This is my opinion only but it seems that a few others share the sentiment.
There are many who want to believe that there is the possibility but they are unable to take their thinking beyond certain points, outside of the box, detached from their own programming. Steem for me is my way of investing into a highly volatile environment with nothing more than my own abilities to work, produce and be part of the community. I find that very cool and if one takes the time, there is a place here for just about everyone if they want to create it.
The only glass ceiling we should actively be looking to break is the one in our own thinking. Interestingly, it is the same glass ceiling that creates the socially constructed ones that may,hold back one sex in some industries or some races or, entire populations of people for one reason or another. It is this programming that makes us fearful of concepts and risks that threaten nothing more than our ideals. If we want opportunity in this world, the first step is to let go of the programming we have been taught that sets us up for failure.
Take a psychological hammer and smash the ceiling. This is overcoming the self. There are risks in this because once smashed, the illusion of safety and comfort zones drops away and only the responsibility to act is left so, swing the hammer at your own risk.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]