Reflections of Humanity in A Digitl World
It's crazy how some things work out
This time last year I was living life to the fullest that I could. I was truckin so hard I could barely get a day off. I'd been dreaming for years about doing a career change. So I would only have to work 40 or so hours a week. Have a bit of money and free time to do what I love. Learning new things about content creation, technology and just having fun. That kind of stuff ir really hard to do when you're throwing down 70+ hours a week at a job. Especially when it's something like trucking. It's not anything like a "normal" job where you punch a clock and go home each day.
Your truck is your second home. It goes wherever you do. You never leave it alone for too long. The old saying of "don't take your work home" just isn't true anymore. More and more people are working from home nowadays. Truck drivers have been doing that for generations already, lol.
But I digress, I was having fun and wishing for more. Had good money, just needed more time. Then the unexpected happened. For the last 5 months I've had more time on my hands during the day than I knew what to do with. I've learned alot about Hive. How it works, the underlying technologies it relies on and the new emerging technologies it's taking advantage of. All the dapps already created on it and the ones that are coming. It's all very exciting and I gotta say, well. It's just amazing.
There is truly no limit to what can be accomplished with Hive. But it's not Hive it'self that makes it amazing. It's not the ones and zeros. It's not the blockchain or the encryption. The code, databases, computer languages or the even the nodes themselves.
It's the humans
They are what has astounded me the most. I dont thing you can find this much of a diverse swath of people. From all walks of life. From all areas of backgrounds, cultures, religions, politics, professions, etc. All seemingly united with one goal at the top of their priorities. Freedom.
I know, I know, There are some that are most likely driven by the profitability of it. But they seem to be more interested the freedom to make that money and keeping it out of the hands of unruly governments. Hell, I'm one of them. I'm just not an investor and my brain works well with being an earner and not necessarily an investor.
But it appears to be that the one thing we all have in common is the inerrant quest for freedom. The freedom to think for ourselves. The freedom to experience things on our own. The freedom to choose our own path in life. Independent of what others wish for us to do for them.
Add to that there is an overwhelming abundance of complete strangers that are willing to help out other strangers. I don't mean they just give out crypto as a charity. They will literally sit down with you and teach you how to make more than they can give you. They will gladly tell you how to create content and help you promote it to earn more. This is unheard of in the world of social media. There are people here on Hive that you wouldn't even know existed. You hardly ever see them make an actual post. But yet they will drop you a line and some huge vote that will make your head spin from time to time.
Whether you are just starting out with nothing or a seasoned content creator Web 3.0 is the future and it is now.
It's not about the tech
Yeah there is some fancy technology but that's not what is truly ground breaking. It's the philosophy that is. While it's really no secret or, honestly, a new concept. The freedom and sovereignty of the individual user has always been at the forefront of the internet age. But we (all users) gave that up by choice in order to get what we really wanted for free. Arguably what we ended up paying as currency for all that "free" stuff turned out to be an extremely high price in a type of currency that really isn't a currency that can be used to do bargaining with.
We allowed ourselves, our information, our identities, some would say our very existence, to be capitalized on and transformed into a commodity that has been traded back and forth. Humans are no longer viewed as customers or consumers. We are cattle that can be sold at anytime to the highest bidder. All they have to do is offer us the right feed and treats and we will follow along dutifully.
Much like slavery through out the entire run of human history. There is always one group of people who think they know whats best for another. And will mke your decisions for you. By force if they need too no matter the cost.
History repeats itself
Back in the 1700's there was huge push back against a British government from a small group of colonies in North America.To keep this version short it was made up of a bunch of common people who wanted their independance from a tyranny and wanted to start their own government that wasnt ran by a select class of people. We all know how that story ended because we are where we are today because of it.
Flash forward a couple hundred years. People are again looking for their sovereignty and freedom in an online world. We've got a place that is screaming to the world from the "New Colossus" poem that is emblazoned on the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
That statue is the real world equivalent of the Hive logo. Hive itself is much like the birth of the USA. Born from a hostile takeover and with war like tactics done by a handful of people who were able to outsmart a tyrant.
The governance is undeniably similar to a representative republic form of government and the white paper appears to read more like the Constitution. Explaining what cant be done rather than what can be done. It gives the users sovereignty and power unlike any other. It welcomes every one and encourages them to do what they can to help their fellow users.
Every one is equal and you get out what you put in. You can do literally anything you want. All you have to do is work for it. There are no free rides.
And just like those people a couple hundred years ago. They didn't just do it for themselves. They did it for their children, their children's children. They did it for those who couldn't do for themselves.
So you see? History does repeat itself.
Where we are now?
I'd like to think that at this point in time with Hive we are in "Pushing west"era. We are still laying down the railroad and seeing how far we can push into the unknown west. Little rules and ways to enforce them are still being developed and refined. All while new technology is being bridged with older tech to things working. Dapps are refining their workings and creating a better user experience. All while keeping the idea of Freedom in the forefront of everyone's mind and hearts.
Givin you the thanks
Next week here in the USA we celebrate Thanksgiving and I am feeling a little humbled by pretty much everything in my life right now. Between the job situation, nearly dying and all the damn lifestyle changes that came with that. I honestly don't know it would've went if I hadn't been on Hive and met all of you wonderful, beautiful and encouraging people. Egging me to keep pushing on. I mean c'mon, I know my content isnt all that great. I suck at talking by myself and I'm really not that smart at pretty much everything. But you egged me on asking for more. So thank you.
If I had been just on Facebook or anyplace else. I probably would've just sat back and checked out of the whole life thing.