Tribalism, Monopoly, and Competition .:. Peace Letter To Hivians

Crypto is going through hard times... We've had bear markets before, and those who "survived" them know exactly how it feels... I wouldn't say it's better or worse this time, but it was challenging in the past, too... Just for the record, I didn't hear that famous sentence: "Bitcoin is DEAD!", too many times, yet... So, we are still doing okay-ish... 😃

Speaking of HIVE, we are also "living" in turbulent times... Things are changing (not sure if it's for better or worse, but they are changing), but again, we had much more serious problems and troubles a few years ago when the situation was literally, TO BE, OR NOT TO BE... Situation on HIVE is a bit different from that on Bitcoin, for example... I know that many see this place as a "centralized" one, but if it were like that, we wouldn't be in the position as we are... So, we are decentralized, people have different opinions about the future of HIVE, and they use their stake to show it! Which is fine... That's how it should be!

The problem is that a lot of us don't understand decentralization, since the concept is still in an experimental stage and it's not that easy to grasp... One thing is to understand it on the technical level, but it's another thing to understand it on "human level"... As usual, on HIVE, we have people who think they are worth more than some other people... That deduction is coming from the fact that some people have a bigger stake, or they have developed something in the past, or they are doing some coding at the moment...

To make it worse, in tough times, the money "issues" come into play too... Then you can hear sentences like: "I deserve it as I did that", "Your stuff sucks, mine is better", "Nobody is doing nothing, only me", etc. Not really things you would like to hear from influencers on the chain...

Of course, the next stage is picking the side, or popularly called tribalism in crypto... If you are not with us, you are with them! I have created probably dozens of posts on this topic, mentioning exactly this issue... The thing is that all our dapps live under the HIVE umbrella, and we (SHOULD) work for the same team, for the same chain, for the same token! That's our INCENTIVE (more on that topic in future posts)! We CAN think differently about the way to "make HIVE great again", but we are working for the same goal! Nobody is crazy to sit on thousands and millions of tokens and try to kill the chain! I can be wrong, you can be right, but we should talk about it, and see if those ways are opposite ways, or just a different direction... I wouldn't say that we just need to talk, but rather to LISTEN to each other a bit more...

Speaking of tribalism, I have to touch on the topic of competition... I was running a business in the past, and I was a rookie among the well-established businesses... The first thing I did was to go to every single one and to offer the way of cooperation, which would benefit everyone... While it was a good idea in my head (and I think it was a good idea in general), other "parties" didn't accept the "hand of friendship"... I learned from them what they did well and what they did wrong, and applied those practices in my business... After just a few years, all of them closed their business, and unfortunately, I also had to do the same... Turning the light off, on my way out... I NEEDED competition to survive! I needed competition to MAKE ME BETTER!

Monopoly is great, but it creates a bubble... And it's not just that... It usually creates a pushback from the community... When you have a monopoly, the INCENTIVES begin to fade away, and as they are gone, you don't push as hard as you could... Developments slow down, creative thinking stops, and work in general goes to a minimum... As, why would I work if the money comes even if I don't! This reminds me of builders that we had when my parents were building a house... They would arrange the price on an "hourly basis" and not on a finished job... So, instead of working for a week to finish something, they worked for 2 months! They didn't have incentives to finish earlier! They didn't search for a new job. Why would they? It's the same working hours here and there...

No goals, no improvements, no growth... All that kills the business in the long term...

Not everything on HIVE is a business, but everything on HIVE needs feedback, communication, and discussion... In the end, we are a social network, and we like to present ourselves as a decentralized community... Well, than ACT like that!

Thank you for your time.

--ph--

None of this is financial advice!!!