Like so many others I'm deeply touched by your video. Glad Peter resteemd (shared) it. I grew up in cold war Europe (Bavaria) and my Grandfather came here from Silesia, so right there I can relate to a lot of things you are talking about. Many other things as well, all the way to your experiences with fb.

Also, as a visual artist, I share many of your experiences, but also similar dreams. What I find particularly interesting (and depressing) is, how your absolutely impressive education didn't seem to help much.

When I wanted to study art, I quickly was to find out, that the art world back then had little room for someone who wanted to work skill based. I had to take a route outside the academies and thank god, I did find the teachers with the knowledge and skill I was seeking in the end. But nevertheless I'm considered self taught, and my work is more or less outsider art...

I like the vision of a Meritocracy, particularly now, as we see the world shifting more and more to Kleptocracies and Olygarchies. Those who do the most for a society, like all those with a social commitment are payed ridiculously little, while the worst parasites are taking it all.

Things of value remain unseen and the stupidest nonsense can be worth millions, with the right promotion. I don't want to discourage you, but even here I get disappointed, when I see some amateurish scribbles get 100 times the attention of a carefully crafted post about a wonderful piece of art that was made with a lot of skill and devotion...

I too looked at your books, as I have a nice collection myself. In a way I find it funny, that the word "Alien" is so dominant, while you speak, and I am wondering, if we, the people who believe in true value, are aliens in this world.

For me steemit has become an important place to be. Not only because of the harassment of fb, but because of the wonderful people I have met here and the incredible amount of really wonderful and interesting content. Often the conversations have much more substance than anything you find on other platforms.

Looking forward to following your new path here on steemit!

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Two lesser know tools I have found very helpful:

http://www.steemspectacles.com (Peter shared this already)

http://steemit.pics/IMGManager/index.php you can enter any username and quickly get an overview over that persons post. (Obviously more suited for posts with visual content)