In a session this morning, my client told a story of one of his friends, a wealthy man of the same age (nearing 60), who umms and ahhs about buying quite basic items, with the example given as a shirt. While he can easily afford to buy any short he pleases, he still thinks about the price of the shirt. My client thinks this is because he is cheap, but in my own experience, this only looks at the issue from one angle, the filter of money.
I am fortunate to work with a wide cross-section of people who come from and inhabit all kinds of positions in the employed economy, from near the bottom to the very top. Plus, I have friends that range across this spectrum too and this has given me a fair bit of insight or at least, opportunity to reflect on different perspectives of money.
When a rich person is perceived as cheap because they think over small purchases, I have found that is rarely the case, it is just that their own process is geared toward evaluating an item differently. When many people look at buying a shirt, they make their purchasing decision based on some personal habits, including price. But for many people, part of their buying process includes the feeling of getting a good deal, meaning that it has to provide value for money. This point isn't limited to poor people who can't afford to make a mistake, it spreads across the entire demographic - no matter personal financial positions.
For many people who have worked their way to being wealthy, this has been part of their decision making process this young and, being rich doesn't change that. It might seem cheap and unnecessary to outside observers, but it could be vital to the purchaser. Often, people are blinded by narrow aspects.
Moving away from money for a moment, another example would be a romantic partner. For me personally, looks do matter, but they are not the only thing that matters, and it isn't likely even top five, even though it might be the first thing noticeable from a distance. But to make a decision for a long term relationship, other factors are far more important like, personality, beliefs, attitude, independence, temperament and most importantly - their ability to put up with me, a smartass who can be stubborn AF. Looks mean little in contrast to other factors, but luckily, I was able to satisfy those points and still have a hot wife.
I know and have known many beautiful women, none of them were hot enough to marry based only on their looks. I don't think that person exists, though some people seem to make their "judgements" based on looks alone -if that is the only thing they can reference.
So, where am I going with this?
Well, in the cryptosphere, a lot of the participants seem to rate a project on its ability to make them profits on their investment, which is is very much like filtering for a partner based on their looks. Yes, it might be important and attractive, but it isn't enough to make a relationship sustainable. It is taking all of the complexity of what is a newly forming industry and narrowing it down into something that no longer is representative of the industry at all. Many do this in crypto investing, as they will buy into a "project" based on whether it will make them profits, not whether it is a project that will make a difference in the industry or, be sustainable.
In my opinion, this is the mentality of future fiat holders - they don't actually care about the future of industry, they just want to buy a better step on the fiat ladder. If they did care, they would be investing into projects that actually could have a positive effect on the industry. Most projects in crypto have zero value proposition other than their ability to generate profits for investors, which makes them well, Ponzis, as it is about attracting more wealth on top, to increase the wealth of those who bought in earlier. Eventually, it collapses, because those at the base will dump vast amounts of the token into the market, crashing the smaller amounts held by the latest buyers and requiring a massive cash injection to support it. Without actual reason to hold other than price, there will be no long-term support.
In regards to Hive for example, there are many, many people who owe their current wealth to Hive, even if they do not earn or hold HIVE. This platform is an application ecosystem that enables a very wide range of activities for earnings and provides a social framework that is leverageable to move across experiences, investments and through gateways in (and out) of many projects. In my (biased) opinion, Hive is one of the most valuable crypto projects in the world at this time, because of the way it is able to meld economy and social activity together, empower non-technical and unbanked users to generate value and provide a hub of overlapping communities that transverse many blockchains and generally, the ones that are more valuable to the future of the crypto industry.
This is the thing for most users who are not desperate for money to live their lives or just wanting to improve their own lifestyle - they are looking long and that means, price doesn't matter now. It really doesn't. Yes, it is nice to have a high evaluation and attract new users, but investors are something quite different than people who buy tokens in the hope for a price pump so they can dump - They aren't investors, they are gamblers.
But, most people do focus on the money, because most people don't feel they have enough, which means when they look at buying a shirt, the price matters to them, including overpaying for the shirt in order to signal to their peers that they have wealth. Someone who is wealthy, might not have that need, but if they still need to have "value for money" to buy, they will evaluate the cost in relation to what the product offers them.
What all of this means is, value comes in many forms, but individuals choose what is important to them. For many, looks are the thing that attract them the most in people at first, but for a long term partner, it doesn't matter that much. A person might like to have a fancy label embroidered on their shirt, but to someone else, that is meaningless and useless. Another would like to have a Mercedes SUV parked in their driveway, whilst their neighbor drives a Toyota and holds a stack of crypto instead. We all make our decisions, including on which parts we focus our attention when evaluating items, with our experience and personality dictating what triggers our purchasing process to buy, or skip buying.
One thing I have regularly noticed in the wealthy I know however is, price is not very high on their list - utility is. Reasons to use matter and if the only reason to invest into a project is in the hope for profits, that isn't much of a project, is it? But, I am not looking to sell crypto, I am looking to be part of the industry.
Price is a direct look at the value of a token, but it speaks nothing of the value behind that price. Most projects have nothing of substance, so they can only draw attention to their price as evidence of their value. It is smoke and mirrors, like a person who wears an expensive shirt and drives an expensive car, yet is struggling to pay their credit card debt.
Looks are deceiving. Price at this point in crypto, is a deception.
The future unfortunates, focus on money now.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
It is fortunate that we are present now, availed opportunities to invest - not speculate - in basal structural components nominal to wealth creation. Money is not wealth. It is merely a service. In it's most basal form, wealth is goodwill, upon which the ability to transact and prosper depends in all fields and aspects of industry.
I am here on Hive today specifically because Hive is a vector for goodwill. While I have often stated my dependence on free speech, that also, like money, is a service dependent on goodwill.
Extant chaotic geosocial conditions clearly will soon effect novel commercial and financial mechanisms informed by decentralized means of production. Evolution of civilization is restoring to humanity our natural decentralized egalitarian social structure, if rational people seize means of production that enable them to optimize their beneficence and ROI on the goodwill derived thereby. A desperate ploy to prevent this is evident, but the temporary transition from no tech to high tech centralization has enabled is defined by physics and has run it's course.
We can observe that in every field of industry decentralization is the bleeding edge of technological advance. Power dependent on centralization is no longer tenable, and no matter what monumental impositions of derangement can possibly be undertaken, the desperate attempt to counter physics is doomed, ultimately, to fail.
Freedom is our natural state, and the technological evolution of civilization has been effected via a temporary centralization of means of production requisite to that transition, and we see now that natural, robust society in and for which humanity evolved is being restored.
Thanks!
Some think it is East vs West, others Left vs Right, Black vs White and all the other nonsense... This is the battle now and will be for the foreseeable future: Centralization versus Decentralization.
The outcome is far from certain in the near term decades, but ultimately, it is going to be either decentralization creates a better world, or centralization kills us all, one way or another.
I think it's great to own assets across the different spectrums. For instance, a micro-cap that can generate massive gains. A project like HIve that can exponentially grow over time to produce solid income/wealth. Projects that are already working but also have tremendous future upside due to relevance and adoption... the list goes on. This is just another way to diversify, which regardless of what many say, still is a solid approach, even in Crypto.
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Diversity of investments, but more importantly, diversity of usecases. I think the value of crypto is that it can integrate with any part of what the traditional economy can do and, empower it and the users.
Utility is often over looked in a lot of things. Kind of like a stuffed toy cat verses a real cat. You can cuddle with both, but the real cat will give more back in purrs and meows and in patty paws, while the stuffed toy just kind of feels almost real but has no real utility in providing feed back and real comfort.
"almost real" is enough for a lot of people these days - which is why the sexdoll industry is supposedly booming :D
I think Hive is the most valuable crypto projects in the world for now. I have checked some other platforms such as Publish0x, read.cash, noise cash; however they are not in the same league with HIVE. I can say that Publishx0 is fine.
Most people also on HIVE focus on the price. As you said it is nice to have a high evaluation, but it should not be matter for long-term investors. Those who buy a token in the hope of high price are just visitors to the cryptocurrency world.
I think I joined at publish0x back when it started, but not sure if I ever used it.
It is not decentralized anyway.
Show off is widening its root in society and social media .Some people earn less, spend more to look rich but it doesn't last longer because the base and direction is not built on solid structure . Example: MC Hammer 'American Rapper' went bankrupt from being one of wealthy personality and it was just because of Show off blindly . He used to buy unnecessary item and spend in million.
So beautifuly merged these lines with crypto story . yes all the glittering is not diamond.
Both were most bitter truth lines which i liked to filter out .
So many stars were the same - thinking the gravy train wouldn't end.
:)
Looks are, in some cases, deceiving. It's one of the things we tell ourselves (well, I tell myself) to avoid envy. Most times, I'm right.
Sometimes, there's no fire, just smoke.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
People want a quick win and some will get it, on the back of other's massive losses. It is greed incarnate.
I am choosing decentralized one, Not because I am in it but when I was outside looking at the two doors of centralized and decentralized I have chosen the last one :)
More will make the same decision, when they wake up to the suffering they experience due to the centralized economies.
It is good to deal with a broad base of people to see their behavior, but I think when it comes to money, people behave similarly in terms of the result they want only to make more profits quickly
But the mentality that seeks to develop and take risks is what gets the profit in the long run
It is the rabbit and the hare story, but at the moment, there are two different races. One is supporting the centralized future, the other the decentralized - that is the game we are in. I am putting my hopes in building a decentralized future :)
Great Post with a beautiful analogy.
Anothet thought to add to this,
Price and value aren't correlated!
Price may reflect value and if you believe in certain economic points of view the market price of something in an efficient market will reflect the value but i think it's one view and for value you also have to consider perspective. Is the janitor my father?
Am I the janitor or the CEO in this example? ;D
This is the problem now, none of this is efficient yet, other than reflecting where people are willing to put their money. It really isn't correlated to value - much like how the stockmarket doesn't reflect the precise performance of a company - it is all just sentiment. Sentiment in crypto is going to change swiftly.
Oh, it's your father... CEO of which company? :P
It is all personal vale at the end of the day.
This really got me tho. I think independence should be number one on the list for me.
I liked how you switched to this topic tho.
Although I thought you were going towards the Shiba Inu rise.
Hive shows itself by the utility it provides. We have a long way to go but I guess we are doing well for our age at the moment.
Do I think hive is the best project?
Well, hive is the only project I can stand for as of now.
I want a relationship that we can lean on each other, not rely on each other.
It depends on what you value - as far as a community and a place where normal types can get diversely involved in crypto - yes. All the rest are pretty much saying, buy me.
I think it is part of mindset of self-made wealthy people. They are well aware of value to price ratio and choose accordingly.
Sometimes they act like they are actually cheap, but this is where their wealth came from: we are spending without a thought, they choose to buy cheaper and keep their earning to spending ratio correct.
That's actually fascinating topic: if you look at lotto winners, quite often they lose all their money because they have absolutely no idea about costs and money management.
Someone buys a manor but doesn't realise how much money is needed to maintain it. His earnings did not went up because he won lottery, so he is in fact losing money.
Regarding crypto projects: people are in for the gains but good projects will defend themselves on their own because they are useful.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
Yes and in general, they have had to go against public opinion in regards to getting wealthy. Many people told them that their ideas would fail, they did it anyway and succeeded - so why care about the opinions of others?
Many fail at this, as they perceive the "value" of something (generally making decisions based on emotions) without considering if it is generative or depletive.
Back in 2017 - there was lots of hype around many ERC20 projects that promised to do this and that - where are most of them now? Well, that is the problem with promiseware.
Lucky you...lol
Am biased too but these points aren't just stemmed from bias, but from the truth. I could not agree more with your description
Lucky indeed!
Hive has a place and voice, at least for now, in building the future of what this industry looks like.
What a great read. And yes, money makes the world go round.
In the very near future, HIVE will not only have us, its loyal supporters as the basis of the project, but will also have among its ranks the guys who just want to have their pockets filled - and that's okay. Because after it all, we will have the right to say that we were in this for the whole time - and I think it is going to be one hell of an enjoyable ride! 🚀
Those people are here already, but most do not last very long and, constantly come and go, rather than build a presence. Long-term, builders become owners and decision makers, the rest are employees. Nothing wrong with being an employee - but it means that they have to constantly add value daily i order to make ends meet and, there is a lot of competition for the job.
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good point.
Thanks :)
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Great post...about it..