We Can All Be A Bit Like Marc DeMesel

There is something that I think about often as I spend my time here and on noise, and that I have gleaned from other places on the Internet that are essentially "pay to write" sites.

They help a lot of people. Or, perhaps more importantly, they have the ability to help a lot of people.

There is something unique though that does separate places like noise and read from others I have been a participant on, and that is that here and on noise we have an ability to directly contribute on these sites.

We can tip. Therein, I have the ability to help a lot of people.

What's more, I do not necessarily consider it charity. While the things we do on these sites is not a job, and therefore not necessarily work, there is at least a bit of effort and time necessary in order for it all to "get done." So, in a way it is not at all like just giving someone something for nothing. I consider it tips that are earned just as much as I feel the tip I give to a delivery driver who arrives at my door with a fresh, hot pizza is earned.

For me the thing is I live in the United States. Call it for what you want. The land of opportunity? A rich country? Whatever your fancy. $100 is not much here. But in other parts of the world $100 could support someone for a month or more. And I also realize that in other parts of the world there is a greater struggle just to survive and get ahead.

In the United States I can get a good job with a good salary, and I can save and invest my money in any number of ways to get farther ahead financially and even get rich if I do the work and want to take the necessary steps.

That can be a much harder prospect for some people in other parts of the world.

I always keep it in my mind that the word "poor" is defined very differently in a country like Venezuela than it is in the United States. Poor is defined differently in a country like South Africa, or Nigeria, or even the Philippines.

The poor in the United States still enjoy many things that poor people in other countries can only dream about. They can drive nice cars, live in decent homes, have big screen TVs and cell phones, laptops and cable TV service among many other things that some might consider luxuries.

It is something that simply gives me pause as I consider my own life and my own opportunities. Including the unique opportunity I have through platforms like this to contribute to someone else's opportunity that for me is a pittance, but to someone else is a treasure.

We cannot all be Marc DeMesel of course. But we can be a bit like Marc DeMesel in what we do and how we choose to conduct our activities here and on noise.

In a sense, the idea or concept, if you will, is not much unlike the idea or concept of paying it forward. A practice that has become quite commonplace here in the United States—for example, you are in the drive through at a fast food restaurant and you pay for the guy's food in the car behind yours.

Is it generosity? Is it hope for good karma? Or does it just feel good?

I suppose the reason one decides to do it depends on the person, and it is likely that everyone has a different reason for doing it. The end result, however, is the same. The person on the receiving end will be grateful for the gesture. Some will continue to pay it forward.

What we do here might be simple "micro-tips." On the surface they are not worth much. But they do also add up. And we can decide to do it from our own pocket if we so choose, or from a percentage of the money we earn on these platforms. We have the ability, on other words, to share and give back. We have the ability to pay it forward.

At the end of the day I think that is at least one of the concepts behind the creation of noise and read. Sure, its primary function is to spread the word on BCH and heighten crypto awareness, and perhaps create transactions that help to fuel its advancement. But it also about people helping people. It is about people like me, in places like the United States where money and opportunity is plentiful, helping people in other parts of the world where money is scarce and opportunity practically nonexistent.

Because that's also something we learn as we peruse around these sites. And that is that people are people. We may live worlds apart and enjoy slightly different cultures. But we are also very much alike in our hopes and dreams and desires and aspirations.

We all just want to live a good and rewarding life.

At the same time we can easily recognize that a lot of the "struggle" of some people in other parts of the world is not by their own design necessarily. For example, if someone in the United States is poor, it is easy to recognize the reason for it. It is not for lack of opportunity here. It's for lack of motivation, and for lack of recognizing what the opportunities are and seizing upon them.

Governments and economic policy in other parts of the world are the root cause of the poverty their people suffer. And that makes it very different. It also makes the dynamics of sharing and giving different.

What prompted me to write this article was one fellow read.cash user trying to get enough money to buy a laptop. Something here that would not necessarily be a concern for most.

For us we just go to the nearest store and buy one without hardly a second thought. It's not a life changing event, nor does it necessarily cost us that much in terms of money. It's just a laptop after all.

But to someone else in another part of the world, it is a doorway to a world of opportunity and joy. It is a life changing thing.

And so, when you happen to be someone living where I live who has probably five laptops in the house and you know that it was not a struggle to get one, it makes you think differently about what it means to someone else just to have one.

Whether it is helping someone with a nickel here and nickel there to get a new laptop, or a nickel here or a nickel there to help someone put food on the table for their family, or a nickel here or a nickel there to help someone fix their roof after a typhoon, or whatever the money might be used for...

I think it makes us all a little bit better as people in general. Marc DeMesel is one guy making an impact on 100's of thousands of lives. Imagine what impact we can all make if we are just a little bit like Marc DeMesel?

If that's ultimately the real accomplishment of cryptocurrency, then I am all-in.

Lead image by Porwest, screen shot of Marc DeMesel Read.cash profile page. MarcDeMesel (read.cash)