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I have bought a little HIVE and had it sitting on an exchange, as well as some sitting in my wallet unused. I have had it sitting there in case I need it, but I am not going to be selling any at these prices anyway (unless forced and haven't been forced in four years yet), so I may as well power it up. I should be able to get around 3 HIVE per day in curation on the 10,000 powered up, which means that with 105 days left until the end of the year, I should be able to earn about 315 HIVE in curation returns in that time. That also means I should be able to distribute about the same amount into the community too. 

https://images.hive.blog/0x0/https://i.imgur.com/o6fKyJt.jpg

I don't selfvote and I don't run any scammy alts that I vote on like some do - so I don't mind earning the curation returns. I post about twice a day however, so if I did self-vote, it would get me about 100 HIVE a week, and with 15 weeks til the end of the year, that is 5x as much as I will get from powering up the 10,000. Am I an idiot?

*Probably.*

But, I also have my own journey here and that isn't purely driven by what I can get in returns. I find the people who maximize (especially those who don't need to) quite basic. Sure, they might do really well and find ways to justify it, but I think there has to be more to life than chasing every dollar - or cent as the case may be. 

Don't get me wrong, I like the gamification that the economics brings and I like playing around with the numbers - but it doesn't have to focus on earnings alone, as that is more likely to lead to a "profit at any cost" scenario where poorer and poorer behaviors will be needed to increase the ROI - like bankers do. But, to each their own.

I was talking with a colleague the other day about this and how people will complain about the economy and the way it works, complain about the one percenters, but, will not play the game themselves. I said to her, if you want to make a difference in that world, you have to have the currency that makes a difference - *power.*

She didn't like that idea.

However and as I told her, there is another way that is far more palatable in my opinion - *change the game.* Crypto is a game changer that creates an economy alongside an economy that will eventually compete heavily for the wealth of the world - *the attention of consumers.* Consumers will start consuming crypto - the products, the games, the blogging sites and of course, the various tokens that provide them with ownership.

>Why live in a world of consumption, when one can own the world of consumption?

Well, just a little piece of it really. But all those little pieces of distributed ownership add up to carry a lot of buying *power.* *Buying power* matters and every company on earth wants to attract the attention of people willing to wield their power in their direction. The shift is already starting where companies *do not care* what the currency is, they want the power of it. 

I actually think that the companies that are starting to take crypto now and even though it is not a big thing at all, are making a very smart move for when crypto makes its mainstreaming move. Traditional fiat exchanges are trading in tokens that are by design going to go down in value over time and, not increase in value very much at all if they do happen to buck the trend. Imagine all of these exchanges taking percentages on every trade for a broad-spectrum range of tokens that will ~~likely~~ hopefully go up 10-100x in value. How much in crypto trading fees does Binance take each day? The 24h on the BTC/USDT pair has 311M dollars worth on it.

*Not a bad day at the office.*

For me, I am not smart enough to play the fiat game, I am not talented enough to make millions from my skills, I am not the kind of person who will ever be successful in the traditional economy - I will always be average, always have to chase, always have to play the game I know I can never win or even have much effect on. It isn't because I am completely useless, it definitely isn't because I am lazy - but that is the world we have. We should stop selling the idea to people that they can make it, that the concept of the "American Dream" or whatever it is in every country on earth is alive, as long as we keep supporting their economy. The dream may be alive, but the reality of that dream happening is bullshit for the vast majority of people and many are waking up to that fact and discovering the game they have been playing is rigged, with the way they have been told to play the reason they are unable to get ahead. Consumption is the driver of economy, but being a consumer is not how you win.

*You have to be an owner.*

Most of the traditional economy is already owned, so unless you already have significant stake in it, there is not much hope in earning some. Instead, it will be working to survive and anything extra will get spent on a sliver of enjoyment to make sure that the majority never get a grip on the *power* needed to change the system. Money is power, people use their power to buy goods and services and transfer their power to the suppliers - those who already have stake. 

Crypto changes this game, crypto becomes a powerhouse by default *if* we the people stop fighting each other and instead, start moving our wealth into asset classes we own. Once we own it, we can start buying with it and because we can buy, we have power. Want different, demand different - first demand is from yourself to behave differently. 

Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]



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