I had a friend on Facebook asking very good questions about Steemit, the market, and the potential for abuse by big investors within the system. I think the basic idea behind this platform is very hard for some people to understand, because they don't understand that ***ideas themselves*** have value, as they eventually bring about real world change. (See combustion engine, the internet, theories of quantum mechanics, etc.)

http://i.imgsafe.org/ac04d1ae50.jpg

The main concern my friend had centered around a "drying up" pool of money put in place by the original investors/founders. I explained that Steemit is a venture and a risk, like any other startup, except that with this startup, the initial investors saw a brilliant vision, and decided to set the ball rolling on it *themselves* without asking help from users of the Steemit platform. What does this result in? For me I am not only telling friends, but also plan on investing a percentage of my earnings ***back into the system.*** Why? Because it has paid me well and rewarded me for adding value to the network via my thoughts and ideas/content, but most importantly because I ***believe the platform and the currency has a big future.*** 

Is this a risk? Sure it is. Just like any other investment. Just like stocks. Just like Bitcoin. What is funny, though, and what people don't get, is that even if it all comes crashing down, my net loss is *ZERO.* 

**Here are some of my comments from the Facebook thread:**

http://i.imgsafe.org/ac10b6f0a1.png

*The founders and initial investors invest capital into what they believe is a revolutionary idea. Same as any other venture. If it grows, other investors join. There is risk same as any other venture except this time they took a bigger risk by saying "Hey, we are just going to set the ball rolling, choose to value and give value for content and ides, asking nothing in return, and see what happens." It is fucking brilliant, in my view, and drives many people away because it is hard to understand how value is created by minds and not by hammers and rocks.*

*If it grows and people leave Facebook (which they are, because it is turning into the new MySpace, looking junkier and junkier, and the quality of content is lower) then interest gets paid to Steemit. The opportunities of block chains are endless for things such as contracts, notarizations, security through decentralization, etc. It is possible that several new blockchain-based social media enterprises will be spawned from Steem. With Steem being the earliest currency to be used in blockchain social media, it makes sense that it's value would increase as these types of sites emerge, and have to compete, collaborate, and trade with platforms like Steemit.*

*It is a brilliant system, really. I have made money (you can check the status of this post). Now that I am paid, I want to invest. I am sure others making money are excited and want to invest in more Steem as well. Near perfect markets are amazing. they are self-correcting because there is no centralized, coercive influence. Where will this go in one, two, 12 years? Who knows. For now, it is something that has proven itself to be very worthwhile for me.*

*All I know is that where there is cheese to be stacked, I shall stack it. Will there be more tomorrow? Maybe, maybe not. Great ideas are what generate value, and thus financial leverage, because they translate to real world change. Right now the platform is not only paying off for me, but I believe in the idea behind it and am very excited about it. People are sick of paying for wars, being stolen from in the form of taxes, and not having control of their funds. As I see it, blockchain is the future. Should some hideous force shut down all the computers and data servers in the world, then it will be the apocalypse anyway, and things like this won't mean anything. Just use my hard drive to club some gestapos. Haha.*

**So, that's it in a nutshell. What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comment section below.**

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*Graham Smith is a Voluntaryist activist residing in Niigata, Japan.*