Greed knows no bounds?

This is a common topic at Steemit where people talk about greed and how stingy some people are with their vote or delegation, how the system is unfair and so many go unrewarded. No, this post isn't going to solve any of that, it isn't really even going to look at it. Instead, this is a question post and I am hoping people will have a conversation about it in the comments section.

The basic question is this: What would you do for money?

I have had many jobs in my life. Among others, I flipped burgers, I gutted chickens, I cleaned fat out of drains, I sold fish and sausage at a supermarket and stacked shelves. These weren't glamorous jobs but to me, they provided a small income for me to pay for what my parents could not, almost everything. honest work, for poor pay.

Later, I worked in a CD store, I monitored the media for company mentions, I sold computers and printers and trained staff. These were better jobs and paid a little better but, were not careers.

In Finland I trained business English, tested mobile software for Nokia, tested potential recruits and started my current business which is in personnel training. These are clean jobs with a basic income, my own business takes a lot of work but doesn't return much more however, freedom has a value too.

For me, I have carried a work ethic through all of these official positions from when I was 15 or 16 but, it actually started earlier than that. My first job was cleaning new buildings out before the painters and finishers came in. I was 12 and I did it alone. My mother hired me after I convinced her I could do it as well as the people they were paying and, I would do it cheaper. She worked at a building company at the time and gave me the chance. The money was good even though for less and, I didn't want to lose it so worked very hard.

Work ethic is something I value highly in myself and even though it doesn't always get highly rewarded, when I look at the job that I do, I value myself for having done it well. I carry this through into Steemit. This is not easy money in my opinion, it is value earned through effort, consistency and a process of continual learning. This is my experience, not everyone's.

This is not a career (at least not yet) for me but, I do take it seriously. There is so much to learn I am unfamiliar with, so many aspects that lay hidden away and so much work necessary to understand how it all comes together. It isn't a magical place of free coins (kinda). What this means is that my work ethic drives my approach here also.

When I post, I try to post the best quality content I can at the time as for me, getting paid for nothing doesn't support my personal philosophy. If I am getting paid for nothing, I will work hard and earn more, right? This is not about greed, it is about value and taking value for nothing is what middlemen do and I am not that kind of person.

When I work, there is more than money in it for me, there is the value I hold in myself for a job well done, in my eyes. For many, this may seem silly and redundant but, getting paid is only one part of it, what you do to get paid is something altogether different. People talk about pride in your work and although I am not proud, when I look in the mirror, I am not ashamed by the work that I do or have done in the past.

So, what will you do to make it here at Steemit? Will you beg, drop links in DMs asking for votes, spam wallets with .001 Steem transfers, scam, plagiarise, lie, suck up to those you think can help you, send provocative pictures of yourself to people? What are the limits, what lengths will you go to? Where will you end? What line is the last?

If you get the vote you are after, get the payout, what will you be willing to do for the next as it will likely require more than the last? You are going to have to ramp it up, are you on a slippery slope? At what point will you look into the mirror and no longer like the person you see there, no longer respect them? Do you think you will be living on a beach in the Bahamas by that time, or might it not be too far from where you are now?

This is greed too is it not? Selling ourselves, selling our dignity, ethics and morality for a quick buck. The wallet may be full, but it could be in the pocket of an empty shell of a person. People talk about the horrible things people make others do for fame and fortune, Hollywood in the news gives a surface level insight. But, there seems to be no end to those willing to debase themselves for a chance at a little more money, a few more coins, an easy road forward. Easy roads. Is there such a thing? I am yet to find one.

Greed may know no bounds, how about you?

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]