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Over the course of the last week or so, I have been in conversation, via DM/PM, with a writer friend who's given me some useful suggestions regarding what I should read in order to make a positive change that will help me with my dire financial situation and potentially get me out of poverty. However, he holds some very negative/FUD-heavy views of cryptocurrencies, which I have repeatedly attempted to refute/disprove (without managing to convince him of anything nor change his mind). The following article is derived from those exchanges (which started with me trying to convince him that he could make some crypto from his writings, being a professional author), with relevant links for fact-checks.
[Precursor material]
J: I still think you're underselling yourself. ZA & the US are the same in that regard: what you charge is a measure of your quality, sure, but it's also a measure of the market's perception of your value. Is not making 5x or 10x an hour for exactly the same thing even more fun? :)
Me: No, that's being greedy and pricing oneself out of a job/project. It's bad enough that working in the conventional/traditional Capitalist structure with fiat is essentially fiat from people and trying to justify it, without stealing even larger sums. I'd like to crypto from my work instead (which is why I want to check out sites like froog.co, which offers freelancers the chance to earn crypto for their efforts).
J: No, that's not being greedy; that's packaging. I can do the same writing for someone for $30/hour or I can do it for $60/hour or even more. And here's the secret: They value me and my work if they pay me more money. That is to some extent how I make $150K/year. It isn't a zero-sum game.
J: What is the advantage of earning just a few bucks of crypto versus a living wage of currency?
Me: The advantage is freedom and worth, not money. When you think about it in monetary terms (fiat), you fundamentallythe philosophical/political point. However, since you asked about money, this might be something for you to consider: Gather a large enough following and write a popular article/post which interests enough people (such as how to live off crypto or how to write a good article/post) and sure enough, you will earn large amounts of crypto. Invest that over five to ten years and your rate of return will be 10x+ at minimum (depending on the currency in question and fluctuations in the APY, of course). Now, find me a bank that guarantees you that rate on an investment of that duration if you can. I think you'll be hard-pressed to.
The full content of this conversation (including where the real content of the argument is to be found) is available on read.cash
