Steemit is a tool. How we use it mirrors our intent and has an impact on our spirit. Good vs Evil
I'm approaching 60 days on Steemit and learning a lot through the process. I've read many articles that shares how this blockchain is built for content, whether it be authors, musicians, artists, photographers, etc. The better the content the more value the cryptocurrency has.
As with anything that man creates, this platform is a tool and that tool swings both ways. We can use it to enrich the experience or it can also be used to diminish or even do harm. Programmers cannot program ethical or moral standards into a platform. Once they attempt to do that, users cry fowl and rebel. Facebook and other social media sites have been highly criticized for their attempt to impose moral and ethical standards.
Governments have attempted and failed for YEARS to do the exact same thing. Instead, we are confronted with the idea that the moral and ethical standards must be established within the individual. Having a solid foundation for what level of self-governance an individual will live their life has a profound impact on how the individual uses the tools at their disposal and the impacts that will have on their quality of life and enrichment.
I've read articles recently that speak of the excitement that the porn industry will be utilizing steemit and how that brings traffic, legitimacy and value to the blockchain. Sadly porn has driven technology for years, but is it a moral and ethical modality to get excited about?
I've decided to live my life on a simple principle, to love my neighbour as myself. It may be simple, but it is also extremely difficult to implement. I had to learn how to love myself first before I could explore what healthy, loving, respectful relationships even looked like. I spent most of my life being addicted to porn, pharmaceutical drugs, alcohol, work, computers and other distractions to help me avoid how I felt. Porn is not loving or respectful despite the justification for the industry and the content!
I've come to realize that even though I'm not engaged in the sexual act itself, by watching it I drive demand which then encourages others to engage in violence, rape and other forms of coercion. But most importantly, I diminish my spiritual health and that of the individuals that I am watching. Even though the physical connection may be thin, the spiritual connection is very strong and when I engage in porn, I am lusting over other people, objectifying their bodies and harming all involved.
While I can appreciate the intent to bring industry into this platform, I cannot condone an action that involves violence, coercion, force, rape, adultery or any other action that does harm to another spiritual being. This is something that I AM NOT going to force upon other people. I'm not advocating programming moral and ethical subroutines into this platform. I will not stop people from welcoming the industry to this platform or watching the content. What I am doing is asking each of us to be consciously be aware of how our actions do impact others on a physical, emotional, mental or spiritual level. I will be vocal when I observe violence in any form.
The choice, as always, is left to the individual. I pray we can overcome the temptations and lust over the physical and contemplate the integrity and richness of the spiritual instead.
In some ways I feel like I am where you were at 20 years ago. I have struggled with the same things you have, and have pulled my head out somewhat. Now the real work begins! I never thought of my actions being covert violence, especially when I could justify in my mind I was doing no harm. Now i realize the difference.
It takes a lot of courage to admit that my friend. Bravo for taking an important step of self reflection and growth. Justification is a tough one to work on, but I pray you have the support around you to help you work through it. I will be here and continue to write about these issues. I pray that you can find encouragement, strength and support through our interactions to help you along your journey. May Creator guide you along the way and bring peace to your heart. <3
I am glad you take things head on and dont mix words. Bravo to you brother!
I call things the way I see them. I think some people find it intimidating, but we don't have the privilege of sitting around and grumbling to ourselves any more. It is time for action and getting these discussions into the open is an important part of the shift!
Wonderful post...we can say that steemit is a another world where everyone is free to do what they want to do. It's a world of lakhs people where mostly people don't know to each other. There is some people spreading positivity, some negativity and some are trying to be famous after that whatever they have to do for it. We should be moral. Moralty should be everywhere. If it is a world to do freely anything then there is some people giving birth to someone. We all are he/she relational.
By the way so effective post. Amazing, I like it very much. Thanks for sharing.
Whether we are in this virtual electronic frontier, made up of electrons, zeros and ones OR in the physical world made up of matter as diverse as the universe, how we govern ourselves reflects who we are and where we are at in our evolutionary process of consciousness. I AM grateful that there are others that recognize this as well. Peace to you.
I'm quite young but I came to this realization myself. While it was hard letting go of in someway(quite a scary thought and a bit embarrassing). I now can finally say I dont support what I would call a world toxic industry.
It is scary and embarrassing too. The social stigma that prevents us from talking about such topics does not help. With courage, we can over come that stigma and achieve some real personal growth. Kudo's for you for having the courage and wisdom to recognize this early. It took me decades before I figured it out and I still struggle with it to some degree. This is a life long journey. <3
To my knowledge, the site you're mentioning is vice.org - and they intend to use their own social media token built upon the steem blockchain. Taskmaster4450 did a post about this.
There's already some adult content on steemit, that's why I keep the nsfw settings on. I share your concerns.
steemit porn.. gross. My kids won’t touch this platform. Thanks for adding ethics and morals to the platform.
Congrats to you for breaking so many chains, those are some REALLY difficult things to overcome. And thank you for allowing us to peek into your past and learning a little from your experiences.
I did a lot of work over the years and that is why I share so openly. It is my hope that I can influence other people to contemplate doing similar work so that we can all live better, more peaceful, joyful and loving lives. I am not finished my journey and I still have a lot of work left to do, but I will share what I have learned along the way. Peace to you.
Thanks for sharing @wwf ! I appreciate your openness and willingness to share. Sex seems to carry most industries. Look at any commercial or advertisement. In the case of nudity on steemit there may be more than one way to look at it. Some might view it as art, others straight forward porn. You have to hope steemians use their voting power and flagging ability to shape the future. I for one hope it is a nudity free place to enjoy art, life, crypto convo, and sharing.
I don't have an issue with nudity being art. Where I believe it crosses the line is when violence gets involved. That could be in regards to the participants, but also the observer as well. It is a fine line and for those who have been or are addicted to nudity or porn, it is not a line I am willing to flirt with. For me, I work hard to focus on the spiritual rewards despite the physical temptations. I am not willing to sacrifice the long term spiritual benefits for the short term physical gains any longer. This becomes a physical vs spiritual consideration as a result. <3
I agree. I definately don't chase that darkness anymore. Steemit has been a good place to dive into some great stuff. For me its most philosophy and homesteading. I really like the feature that blocks the nsfw stuff.
Thanks for sharing us
Well written, with very important points.
I am with you Sir! I hope Steemit remains to be free from all these kind of contents. Its not really happy to see these in our feed.