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While the imminent HF21 is likely only a few weeks away, there seems to still be casualties forming on the Blockchain, people who are becoming disillusioned by where Steem is or, where it is going. It is a strange position to be in perhaps because as far as I know, there are very few people who think Steem is all it can be right now, but at the same time, a lot of people seem to be against changing it. 

# Hang in there?

https://i.imgur.com/MHyO2qa.jpg

Actually, I don't mind so much if people hang in or not if they are unwilling to actually see how things play out long term. While *everyone* wants to earn from Steem and content creators believe that 50/50 and the SPS cost is going to impact them, the entire current Steem pool is only worth:

<center>![](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmWdy9HuawLKhdmiCXr8oK434AfZGArYW2BsbACpYXXTvg/image.png)</center>

How far does that really go? How many rents can it pay, how many authors and creators can it reward? As I and many others have stated many times over the years, *Steem* is not ready for the majority of people to live off and will unlikely ever be able to support a massive number to live off as earners on the platform - but it could provide significant and helpful revenue streams . and it could reward authors better *if* price increases. 

While there are plenty of platforms where people can earn more, there *aren't* plenty of platforms where one can *own* part of the platform itself. What that means is that while a person can *potentially* earn more on Patreon or Youtube, they will never have a piece of the ownership meaning, they will always be at the whims of the owners and audience - no matter how much work they do, no matter how good the quality of what is produced. 

For those on Patreon and other places, how much do you care about *other people's* content there, how much are you putting into supporting artists like yourself? This is an interesting question because if supporting at the same rate you are earning, what are you actually gaining? It would be interesting to see some metric from how much of what people earn goes back into support others when it is a *direct cost to do so.*

The problem I see with the centralized platforms that provide earning is that the majority of what they generate goes to the owners who do not put it back into the system at all. What they are doing is leaching the system and draining value away while those who create and consume finance them. Where is the ownership share for the creators and consumers? Are they offering points on the profit they make?

What happens when the content idea machine runs dry, what happens when no one wants to see you do what you do any more, what happens when the old age sets in? On Steem, those that actually care about content support are staking in so while they might be able to earn now on their posts, later they will be able to support the up and coming content of others. New writers, artists, game developers, streamers and all sorts of people who are just starting out on their journey. 

I am a content creator on Steem and have been from day one where I started at *absolute Steem zero.* I am still a content creator on Steem and have likely been one of the higher earners in comparison to many, as well as among the most prolific in both content count, length of post, number of comments, manual votes cast and while subjective, *quality* of content and experience. It is interesting when people say things like "you don't care about author earnings".

I *do* care about them a great deal because, that is a part of the system that is going to be the most valuable because we as an economy will be able to support each other without it being leeched by an authority that takes it away from the system. But, in order to be able to support a large number of people, that Steem pool needs to be worth more than it is today. 

Distributing it to people who are only looking to earn for life at this point doesn't help the price grow. What needs to happen is that it needs to be locked up, it needs to be demanded, it needs to be generative for earning without selling it. That is part of what the EIP is trying to do, to put *Steem* in the hands of those who want to hold it and provide more incentive to distribute what is in the inflation pool. 

Will it work? Dunno. But, what is currently happening isn't working and hasn't for a very long time. It is a little frustrating that there are so many people who have put up with the BS for so long, but *now* they get disillusioned. Now that there is a large change on the horizon that could lead us into a new type of Steem and the many new ideas it will bring. 

It is okay that you are disillusioned, it is okay that you are upset at having your rewards cut, it is okay that you hate Steem because, there are enough people here who are working toward a better experience for all Steemians,

*not just for you and your list of desires.*

But this all takes time, and patience is something that people lack in a world of *on-demand* services.

Services that while you demand, others own.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]

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