So what if Steemit beggars went on strike? Well, that would mean good for some people and bad for others. I have been off Steemit for quite a while now because of my ongoing end of semester examinations. One of the literary works we studied this semester was BEGGARS STRIKE by AMINATA SOW FALL. The book talks about the society and the way beggars are treated. Set in post-colonial Senegal, the novel seeks to bring to light the role beggars have to play in the society, and as such, should not be treated like nuisance that’s needs to be drastically dealt with. On Steemit, I think, there is this group of people; not actually a group though. But this class of Steemians who could be likened to beggars as depicted in the novel BEGGARS STRIKE due to a likeness of character. So what would be the outcome if these “beggars” went on a strike, and stopped begging? Well, let’s find out

what the novel is all about?

Beggars Strike, set in Africa, tells the story of an ambitious politician, a rather incompetent one who is tasked with clearing beggars off the street. Awaiting him upon completion of the task is an opportunity to become the next vice president of the country. A reward he so dearly wanted. Begging on the other hand was the job of these blind, crippled, old and homeless men and women on the street. The begging was so severe that it always seemed like an assault anytime beggars approached anyone for alms. This had led to a decrease in visits from tourists, affecting the nation’s economy, hence the need for politician Keba Dabo to clear them off the streets. Keba Dabo has a rather strong belief in prayer men and superstition and regularly consults medicine men to reveal his destiny and seeks prayers and help from them to fulfil his heart desires. Finally managing to clear the streets of the beggars, Keba Dabo consults a well-known medicine man about his dream of being the next vice president of the country. The medicine man asks him to offer a sacrifice which involved killing a cow and distributing the meat to beggars on the street. This becomes tough for him as he has chased all the beggars from wherever they used to stand and beg for alms. But seeing this is the only way he would succeed in being appointed the next vice president, Keba Dabo goes to the beggars (who have now resided in the compound of their leader) pleading with them to come back to the streets for just a day so he can distribute the meat to them. It was this same Keba Dabo who had them sacked and beaten from the streets like dogs. The beggars refuse as they’re now living like princes. They no longer beg, no longer harshly treated but gifts are brought to them by the rich and middle class alike so as to fulfill their obligatory alms giving or to drive away a bad omen or for some other personal or spiritual reason. Keba Dabo’s incessant begging and pleas that the beggars go back to their posts for just a day falls on deaf ears. He even incites them by throwing money into the crowd. Yet, the beggars do not budge from their leaders compound and in the end, his ritual was not completed and he lost the of Vice Presidency.

Beggars Strike And Steemit

To me, I would very much say that Steemit is just like the society described by Aminata. There are the rich ones; those “blessed”. These are the people with a lot of Steem power and Steem dollars, with the power to influence the value of your post with just a 25% upvote. And theres the middle class; not so poor, not so rich either. They make an amount you would consider “OK”, but they are also striving to get higher. Then there is the very poor, the beggar, who makes very little from their posts; making from 0.01$ to 0$ per post. In trying to make money from their posts, many Steemians resort to begging for upvotes from users with a lot of Steem power. They follow a lot of people and upvote with their insignificant Steem power so as to gain the favour of the whale. Please don’t get me wrong here. But I’m not saying following people and upvoting their posts is a bad thing. But ask yourself this “Why am I following @steempoet?”. Is it so I can get a resteem, an upvote or a follow back? Or I just enjoy reading his posts? We should all strive for the latter. Steemit is supposed to be a social media platform where we like posts we enjoy…just like that. For fun. Not for mutual resteems, upvotes or comments. But wherever there is money involved, it is natural for us humans to turn everything and anything into a business venture. It saddens me sometimes when I see good quality posts earning very little just because the writer has a low Steem power and would not be able to return the favour when voted for. When I first joined Steemit, I asked my friends, old Steemians, with a lot of following why they don’t make posts everyday though they have a massive following. All they said was “Bro, followers on Steemit doesn’t really count”. I finally realized why. Some people don’t follow so just that they can read your posts on their feed, but rather for a mutual follow back so as to have a high number of followers. FOR WHAT?

SO THEY DECIDE TO GO ON A STRIKE

Yeah, so the Steemit beggars decide to go on a strike. No more meaningless following. No more meagre upvotes or comments. Everyone just decides to post their work. Whales are no longer begged for a post changing upvote. No doubt, they will still grow but with time, they will start to recognize the importance of those little upvotes they received from the newbies and low earning Steemians. Just like Keba Dabo, good posts will start drawing attention. Whales will take their time to read posts. Talents and new quality content will be discovered and Steemit will be a better a place, and not just a system where those on top, stay on top.

I’m proud of how far I have come as a Steemian

I joined Steemit in late March,2018. I have always had a thing for writing, reading and studying literature though I’ve majored in Science courses all through my education. I never had the chance to share what I learnt or still learning to the world. Poems and stories I wrote, I read to myself. I even tried running a blog of my own, but failed. Steemit has come to rectify that. Now I share my work, experiences and interact with people like me, and it’s so much fun. Upvotes are an indication that people like my work, to me. And when I get very little upvotes, then I know that piece of work might have been a mess and I work on that. I love Steemit… and forever, I will steem on.

IMAGES TAKEN FROM PIXABAY AND GOOGLE