I’ve been heavily involved in a couple of blockchain projects here on Steem for the past few months. Those two projects have been funded in large part with Steem delegations, something which I must admit I don’t completely understand. I tend to have a pretty cavalier attitude when it comes to money no matter what form that “money” takes, so I don’t usually look too closely at the inner workings of how that money appears or gets used. I’m more of a “if it’s in my pocket I can spend it, if it isn’t there, I’ll make do” sort of girl.
I don’t know any whales. I’ve never met one in real life except at Sea World. If I’ve met one here on Steem, I didn’t know it. But I know that somewhere in the shadows there are people who hold a great deal of Steem and use it to encourage groups and individuals and projects on this little corner of the blockchain we call home.
On the surface these delegations are pretty black and white. A project gets X amount of Steem delegation and then can use it to help fund a school in a village. Or buy supplies for students. Or provide meals for homeless orphans. The charitable giving and projects here on Steem are many, and do much good around the world.
But the projects I’ve been working with don’t involve charitable organizations. And the good those delegations do isn’t black and white - it can’t be reduced to numbers in a spreadsheet. It’s more subtle than that and yet has the potential to be even more life changing than a warm meal, or a new pair of shoes or a school desk.
Those projects involve learning new skills and improving existing ones, being a part of a group working towards a shared goal, and discovering new paths that can change individual lives forever.
It’s been said throughout the centuries that if you give a man a fish you feed him for an hour. If you teach a man to fish you feed him for a lifetime. Nowhere is that more true than here on Steem. You can find groups that hold weekly teaching sessions on almost every subject imaginable. There are groups that teach hard skills like video creation, image work, and article writing. Steemit is, after all, a content hub. On Steemit you can find tutorials on everything from making simple toys for kids to cooking vegan to using a specific app to accomplish computerized tasks. You can learn about aerodynamics, chemical interactions, all sorts of “how things work” articles and videos.
Those delegations that help support the groups and companies who provide training and work for their fellow Steemians is perhaps the most valuable commodity in the Steem universe. We may never know how many citizens of the blockchain were able to start their own business, get a better job, move to a community that better suits the needs of themselves and their families. Perhaps that job is on the blockchain. Maybe some of them will make the contacts they need to be able to finally bring that app they’ve been working on into the world. Maybe they’ll find that missing link in their skill set that will enable them to create the new and wonderful product or service they have had as a dream for as long as they can remember.
We’ll probably never know the numbers of people helped by those delegations, but we do know that they bring a precious commodity to the world of the Steem blockchain - hope for the future and the fulfillment of dreams. They provide learning, and opportunity and the hope of a brighter tomorrow. They are changing the world - one Steemian at a time.
