Have you ever read Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand's magnum opus? It's certainly well-known to crypto-folks with its libertarian, do-your-thing leanings.
No real spoilers here, but I'll relate a small part of the novel because it's pertinent to what I wish to convey.
Note, this is how I recall the scene in the book. It might be a bit wrong, but it gets the point across close enough...
In Atlas Shrugged, some highly adept people aggregate into a covey in the mountains somewhere, Colorado, I believe. One person wishes to hire another for housekeeping. (They are both highly skilled and largely paid executives in their respective fields.) The "worker" offers to do the work for free. The "payer" says there's no way, it's work-for-pay or don't do the job. The worker asks, "How much?" and the payer says, "A quarter." That is, 25 cents, or $0.25 USD. A quarter of a dollar. So, essentially, the pay was nothing for the work involved. The worker happily agrees, works, and is immensely proud of the 25 cent coin received as pay.
Proof of work
Today, I fiddled around on "Stacker News" which is a Bitcoin Lightning news aggregator/social network (?). People can tip Bitcoin sats to others. (I know, sounds like Hive, right?) I now have 40 sats. And, I'm proud of my satoshis.
To be clear, I believe I had about a dozen sats going in. Evidently it costs a few to post or respond, I think, but then I got more back.
Anyway, those 40 sats are currently worth over 1 penny, USD. Yahoo!
I'm not sure if I've ever been proud to have a penny. I don't bend down to pick up pennies anymore. In my calculus, the cruddy grime and potential bacillus on the penny are not worth handling one penny and dropping it in my pocket. I'd likely forget about it and then either lose it or it'll rattle around in the wash. Thus, I let it lie.
But, dem sats!
And then there's Hive
Getting a penny from the Bitcoin Lightning Network is cool, at least in my view. But, then there's Hive. At least in my case, Hive allows for me to earn much more. Pennies come more easily, yet, every time, I'm now, "Wow! I just earned a penny!"
I hear it clink into the bottom of by imagined glass tip jar.
Yes, I'm much, much more active on Hive. I've been here six years as of some time this month. I've only messed around with Stacker News a few months, and very sparsely at that. Yet, this whole endeavor reveals a welcoming feature of Hive. From newbie to throughbie, earning on Hive is possible. A newbie who posts a proper introduction can often earn dollars on post number one. From there, it's work, to become a throughbie...someone who is seeing-it-through...someone who is working-the-plan toward fruition. Herein lies a difference this chain enjoys. A difference maker from most platforms out there. That difference:
Your effort yields your reward. Not, your effort rewards the platform or someone else.
And Web3
And this is the whole point: with Web3, you/I/we receive rewards for what we do. We own it, and we benefit from it.
To be fair, on a Web 2.0 platform, like a Facebook or Twitter or Reddit, you can earn rewards. Those rewards come in three main forms, as I see it. (1) You get likes, upvotes and followers. That can make you smile that others approve of what you write. (2) You can "build your brand", so to speak. (3) You can make personal (albeit online, digital-personal) connections with others. Real, authentic interactions with other people matter a great deal and are a good thing. These things are "not nothing," as they say.
Still, monetarily, you earn zero. The platform earns off of you, but you earn zero.
I've got 40 sats on Stacker News! 馃榾
One bit more about Stacker News. The site is very Web 2.0 looking. It might even be considered Web 1.5 looking. Frankly, I kind of like this because it reminds me of Bitcoin Talk and I'm an old soul.
For anyone wondering, "What's Bitcoin Talk?" It's the forum set up by Satoshi Nakamoto. Yes, the original Satoshi. If you want any kind of legit street-cred in crypto, you must have an account on Bitcoin Talk. You'll tell your grandchildren about it.
Book Club
Atlas Shrugged is too long, ;tldr? Read Anthem. It's short and has a great graphic novel video. Want more? Read The Fountainhead, a personal favorite.
Keep grinding, stack sats and HIVE.
