Why Are You Here?

I bought the first ever Steem tokens with a little bit of cash I could afford to part with today. It gave me a sense of pride and ownership to do so. I haven't ever bought Steem because I live a pretty cash poor life. The money I used was actually money that I have earned blogging here and I couldn't think of a better way to use it. Not to mention that it was all sitting in Coinbase. I have been reading a lot about the coming hardfork and just wanted to be safe.

I have powered up almost all the SBD that I have ever gotten from steemit because I believe strongly that this ship is going for a long ride, and now, about half of what I took out, I put back in. Which brings me to the question, are you invested in steemit or are you here to see what you can get from it?

I have been here just shy of a year, I took some time off last fall to get my life and my head straight, but, other than that, I have been here. I have been posting and learning and attempting to get better at the whole steemit ride. I have no intention of leaving anytime soon. I can see myself talking with @papa-pepper and @karenb54 and @journeyoflife and others until I am well into my retirement. How could I leave and not see the #minnowsupportproject really come into it's own? To never read a @jrhughes story or have fun in the Fiction Workshop?

This is one of the only places that has ever given me any recognition for my writing. A place I can proudly display myself and not ever fear trolls or mean people calling me down for trying something new. I am invested, and, not just monetarily, but emotionally.

I was reading a post earlier about self voting written by @denmarkguy . It gave me pause. I too have seen a lot of n00bs on here spamming the comment section with their meaningless, beggy comments, all self upvoted. I have rarely, if ever, upvoted my own comments let alone my own posts. I played around a little after the hardfork, but, that was just to see what I was capable of. (more and less is the answer to that one)

Typically, I will upvote my post on day 5 or 6 and ONLY if it a post designed to help other steemians succeed. I was helped greatly when I first started on the platform, so, I pay that forward by doing my Weekly Wednesday Wonder posts and supporting minnowsupport any way I can. I have delegated 100SP to the project and I help out minnows wherever I can. We are all on the same boat, don't you want to keep sailing? Or are you here to drill holes in the bottom? @denmarkguy used the ship analogy and it stuck, sorry.

Not sorry! We now have pirates, and rats, and I intend to defend the SS Steemship from these brigands! All hands on deck! The greedy takers are soaking up the rewards pool intended to recognize good content and this needs to stop!

What needs to happen is when you see one of these spammy comments or shit posts with no content let alone good content, you need to exercise your downvote finger so we can rid this beautiful ship of the pirates and rats. I have never downvoted anyone, but, that is about to change. If you let pirates and rats run the ship, they will loot it and scuttle it and go onto the next ship, leaving those of us with actual time and investment to grab the nearest flotsam and try to swim home. I for one am ready and willing to fight...are you?

To those of you who have investment here, I know that what I have contributed here is just a drop in the bucket, but, it is all I could do for now. Going forward I will be putting at least $50 worth in my SP chest per week, more if I can afford to. I really feel that I need to invest at least as much as I have been rewarded to make this really work, and, I am in a deficit right now, but I can make it up. I have powered up this post and will power up more in the future. I love this place and I want to see it set right. If we all invest as much as we can, this will truly be a grand voyage. I love ya! Steem on!