One of the reasons that a lot of people give for selling HIVE they earn is that they need it to live, which is a pretty good reason, but also not. Obviously, we almost all need some kind of income to sustain us in the modern world, but I have always had questions about those who rely on Hive for theirs, especially for staple things in life, as it is far too volatile and is open to all kinds of other aspects, making it unreliable as an income unless a person has stake.
Many people say "money attracts money" and the "rich get richer" and this is true on Hive, in HIVE. Stake can be used to earn on through curation and often, those with stake are able to have a voice in the community too, which can attract supporting stake. Yet, often, those who are the biggest sellers of their potential stake are also the ones saying they don't get enough community support, without thinking about the lack of support they provide the community themselves.
But, this aside, for the people who need HIVE (or other crypto) to live off so that they are continually in need, what would they do if they had none, if it didn't exist at all?
Just as a thought experiment for myself, if I didn't hold any crypto now, if Hive didn't exist - my life would be easier. The reason is that I don't use any crypto to service my life, but I put a lot of effort into building my stake in crypto. I would have more money if I didn't have crypto, because I wouldn't be buying crypto, but the reason I buy now is that I believe that the value of what I buy is going to go up in relation to the euros I buy it with. It is the same for the time and energy spent on Hive to earn HIVE, as I believe the value of Hive and HIVE are going to be worth significantly more than my time and energy I put into it now.
But, if I needed to sell my HIVE to pay my rent, buy groceries or get flea powder for my grandma's dog - is it Hive's problem or the way I have organized my life? If Hive didn't exist, what would I do, how would I survive? If I can identify those things, why am I not doing them now, so that while I am able to earn HIVE, I am also able to hold HIVE or other cryptos for the future?
This is in part due to habit and mindset, where if something is available it has to be used, even if it means continually having to struggle to make ends meet. Yes, there is a relatively high risk that Hive and crypto will fail in the future, but there is also a relatively high chance it will not only survive, but thrive, with the value of it on average being far greater than the relative energy used to make it.
Of course in some places, it isn't exactly easy to get work to make ends meet, but considering that the population on Hive is so small, it seems that most people in those places are still finding a way to survive, because they aren't here earning. For them, HIVE doesn't exist, so they can't spend it.
While I spend a lot of time considering aspects of Hive and crypto, once I hit the border of spending the HIVE itself, it disappears and doesn't exist. Taking it off the table as an option to use for daily living has given me the chance to build my account, because regardless of what is happening IRL, my life has to be managed by "real world" activity. This means there has been no expansion of my standards of living in any way, other than what can be done through paid work.
I am not saying that everyone has to do this and of course, everyone can do with their own HIVE as they choose, but in my opinion, for those looking to really improve their standard of living using crypto, they are going to have to make sure that they have crypto in the future too, not live digital hand to mouth. A lot of people think that HIVE and similar tokens are easy to come by through posting, but this tap can close at pretty much any point, locking those who do not own any out of the pool, or forcing them to buy. However, only those with money can actually buy, meaning those who needed to live off HIVE are unlikely to be able to buy back into HIVE, or any other token for that matter.
So what then?
If all of your community derived HIVE earning were wiped away, do you have to go without something? If so, you are at least somewhat reliant on Hive and not only that, reliant on people *choosing to provide you with value that will survive in the 7-day negotiation until it is owned. If you are reliant on the community for income to manage your life but aren't providing value back to that community, what happens long-term, do you expect to keep getting supported indefinitely?
Again, this is not judgement of individual behavior, but I believe it is important for individuals to take responsibility for their behaviors and outcomes in life. When we rely on people for our personal income, we are working a job and as such, have to make sure that the job we do meets their expectations. On Hive, the payment of our "income" comes from a shared pool, meaning that those who are working for a share of it without owning stake, have many bosses to satisfy.
This is an illustration of ownership - owners make decisions. On Hive, people own their accounts and they own what they put on their accounts, but without stake, they don't own any rights to the pool, meaning that access to the pool is granted by owners with stake. When those owners see behaviors they believe are detrimental to their view of Hive, they have their staked rights and their voice with which they can affect the outcomes. This could be by not granting access to the pool or, blocking access to the pool by narrowing the doorway with their stake. What is detrimental is up to them, as is how they respond.
It might not be "fair" that some people are able to be in conditions that support growth mindsets and habits, while others are not - but each of us has the opportunity to affect our own behavior. For me, reframing conditions to improve my chances of a growth, rather than a subsistence mindset, has allowed me to build in ways that I previously didn't think I was cable of. Simultaneously, I have seen many others who have not changed their behavior and are exactly where they have always been, still struggling, still doing the job in the hope to please their bosses, complaining about conditions when they can't. At what point do we get tired of the struggle, tired of complaining about conditions and instead - do something about improving our own lives for good, not just for today?
There is more to building than earning more, the other habits have to support the growth too.
Crypto does exist, there is opportunity on Hive - it is what we each do with it that matters.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
