You have heard this sentence. You have probably said it. I know I have.
There is an old story about exactly that. I have already mentioned it in 2021, and in 2023, when I admitted that I was also waiting for "that mythical somebody" myself ;-) Here it is:
This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
- "Whose Job Is It, Anyway?", author unknown
No one knows who wrote it. For decades people have passed it on: in church newsletters[1], company newsletters[2], radio club newsletters[3], and at least once in the US Congressional Record[4]. A story about things that belong to everybody, which itself belongs to everybody.
Many people read it as a story about lazy people. I don't.
Read it again. None of the four refuses. Everybody is sure the job is taken care of. That is not laziness. It is a blind spot they all share, and they discover it only when it is too late.
So for me this story is not a verdict on the past. It is a warning for the future.
Dobro wspólne
In Polish there is a phrase for the thing in that story: dobro wspólne. The very first article of the Polish Constitution uses it: "Rzeczpospolita Polska jest dobrem wspólnym wszystkich obywateli" - the Republic of Poland is the common good of all its citizens.
It does not translate well. In English, "the common good" sounds like something from a philosophy lecture. In Polish it feels closer to "something that belongs to all of us, and is good for all of us".
A park. A road. A language. A library. Open source code. A blockchain. A meeting that happens every year because someone organizes it.
Here is a good example. Friends meet for a bonfire. Someone brings wood. Someone brings food, someone brings drinks, someone brings a guitar and unfortunately plays it. No one wrote a schedule. No one assigned the tasks. It works, because everyone can see what is missing, and brings it.
And here is the part that is less fun. After the bonfire, there is trash. If we do not take it out, it stays.
In a city, trash disappears every week, like magic. It is not magic. It is taxes, and a person who comes to do the job. Money can pay that person, but money cannot notice that the bin is full.
In a decentralized world, there is no city service. There is no "them". Ask the team. We are the team.
The decent part
Look closely at the word "decentralization". There is decent hidden inside.
It is only a coincidence of letters: "decent" comes from the Latin word for "fitting". But I like it anyway, because it fits.
When the center disappears, the responsibility does not disappear with it. It spreads to all of us. Taking our share of it, without being told, is the decent part of decentralization.
I often hear a conversation like this:
- "I would like it to be done this way." - "Then propose it. Do it. If it is a good idea, people will join." - "Who, me?"
Yes, you. Not because you owe anything to anybody. Because you are the one who noticed. The one who sees what is missing is the natural Somebody.
You do not need permission. You do not need to be elected. Write a post. Set a date. See who shows up. If no one does, you learned something, and it cost you little. If people do, congratulations: you just became Somebody.
This is also how good habits spread. People rarely pick up trash because of a lecture. They pick it up because they saw someone they respect do it, and thought: "that is cool, I want to be like that". If you want to see a change, be the first one doing it. Others will follow, and that needs no one's permission either.
One important note. This is not written for the people who already carry too much. You know who you are. Thank you. Get some rest. It is the rest of us who should make sure the fire does not go out.
Hive it your own way
Hive is decentralized. No company owns it, and there is no support desk. That makes Hive more than a coin. It is an idea: a base layer where people try social, economic and technological experiments together. An idea does not have a price chart. It has only two states: someone is still working on it, or no one is.
Everyone sees Hive in their own way: what it is, and what it is for. That is fine. That is the whole point of decentralization. I have my way, and I believe in it. You have yours. Good. We do not need to agree on every detail to take care of what we share.
Hive is awesome, but it still has some rough edges.
So, somebody should really do something about it.
Good news: you are somebody. ;-)
[1] The Torch, newsletter of Elon College Community Church, Elon, North Carolina, autumn 1983: "A Short Story - Anonymous".
[2] K liner, internal newsletter of K mart Corporation, July-August 1983, back page: "A Job for Everyone".
[3] Holmesburg Amateur Radio Club Newsletter, Philadelphia, January 1982: "Tale of Four Persons", signed "Anon."
[4] Congressional Record, House of Representatives, August 6, 1987, page 22752. During a debate, Mr. Gray of Illinois read the story, which he had found on a church sign. The next speaker started with: "Mr. Chairman, anybody could have offered this amendment. It fell to me to do it." Right after that, another member offered the amendment Mr. Gray had announced, explaining: "I am proposing a change that anybody could propose."
