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Inspired By: GatesNotes | What’s it like to live on less than $2 a day?
Monetary systems, including those enabled by the blockchain, play a vital role in society as our primary means of resource exchange.
Digital currency technologies, like Steem, are innovations that fundamentally change how we can recognize, understand, and address economic challenges like wealth inequality. The emergence and the development of digital currencies fundamentally challenge the cost of providing economic support to at-risk communities through the development of affordable microtransactions.
The economic potential of ecosystems like Steem is greater in emerging economies, where individuals and families struggle to meet their very basic needs. I believe Steemit provides a [significantly underappreciated] key innovation - proof-of-brain - which recognizes the inherent potential of individuals as (1) a thinking and conscious being, as opposed to the reduction of individuals to (2) a basic actor supporting market-driven productivity. The difference may not be clear, but the first option views you as a living, breathing human being, whereas the second option views you as a cog in a machine. The first option grants you the ability to express our unique subjective values, and the second only recognizes your objective productive value - or economic output.
You're not a cog in a machine, you're a unique and significant individual in a world with varied and diverse perspectives.
Open Questions
How can currency ecosystems, like Steem, benefit economically marginalized communities through microtransactions?
How can proof-of-brain be utilized to share collective stories about ourselves and our communities, which relies heavily on our subjective experience?
Thanks for reading! I look forward to reading your responses!