Buy Low and Sell High they say. It’s always easier said than done and while I am not entirely confident that STEEM has hit the ultimate low, it certainly has fallen a long way from the peak (over 98%) so it’s hard to argue that it is not **LOW** at 12 cents. So I’m a buyer at this level and what better way to buy and power up than on the [Steem Power Up Day](https://steemit.com/spud/@streetstyle/less-than-24-hours-before-spud8-makes-its-48-hour-trek-around-the-world-steem-blockchain-community) of December 1st, 2019. ![sideline.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmYGC2Fz5ZYsZnWiJ6Rkj1JKiMo7RMRbYyQBYwsiDKXeF8/sideline.jpg) [Source](https://www.mapconsulting.com/blog/leadership-and-management/don-t-cross-the-line) I still remember those heady days of early January 2018 when STEEM peaked. I was on holidays at the time just after New Years and had been powering down because [I thought the market was showing signs of mania](https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@buggedout/5-reasons-i-sold-my-cryptos). I remember fumbling around on my wifes phone and selling a bunch of STEEM at around $5 USD while we were between the pool and the BBQ….and then kicking myself only days later when it shot up to $8. It sure was one way to ruin the holiday relaxation! It’s always hard to time these things to perfection but in hindsight I think I did ok. I turned outright bearish on STEEM (and SBD) some time in 2018 and was pretty public about it but never did I think things would get as bad as they have. Never did I think STEEM would drop down to 12 cents. ![shocked.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmdSs9TFUrRKWFoXP7ESip6MHzCcrbw2rMt6kmaxK4Tqu3/shocked.jpg) [Source](https://www.spring.org.uk/images/shocked.jpg) Am I bullish now though? Well, honestly I’d like to be but I’d be lying to claim bullishness at this point. The ecosystem still has a fair share of problems, both technical and cultural – but deep down I feel that STEEM (or something like it) simply has to survive. Our world is facing some big problems at the macro level and a big one of them is in the social media space. Back in 2017 I hadn’t heard the term “Total Tech” before, but now I see it everywhere. We are seeing all the big players : Facebook, Twitter, Reddit all clamping down on free speech and we desperately need a social media platform that has censorship resistance. Steemit is not perfect, but with an immutable blockchain and a growing number of alternative front ends available – it’s still the best we’ve got right now and that’s got to count for something. ![censorship.gif](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmRbD5zjKPbd5t7Rinr3rb28ywVXt6ifScYa6ErZHCxtLA/censorship.gif) [Source](https://censorship309.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/cartoon20050615.gif) I was hoping that the whole "Free Downvote" kerfuffle would have played out by now and I’d made a mental note to buy back in after the dust had settled on Hard Fork 21 so that I could see what the landscape looked like first. That ugly chapter still has a bit to play out and we still aren’t seeing a great blooming of “Manual Curation” either (as was promised by those selling the HF21 story) but SPUD is a good idea that was enough to get me off the sideline even if only a little bit. I can always buy more STEEM later. I only just qualify for SPUD because I am about to hit the reputation ceiling so this is my one shot at showing how it’s done. ![reputation.PNG](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmWx47gTkAa6E8h3JAoSMbWNJAkRnFvDKoJ2C8ZbyrSCjj/reputation.PNG) [Source](https://steemd.com/@buggedout) I may even hit reputation 69 from the upvotes on this post. It’s taken me over 2 years to get this far but I guess that’s a bit of a milestone worth celebrating too. **BEFORE SPUD** ![before.PNG](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmPW55vpXU8u5Jwn1qCDByDrphoE1vT1dUvm9gtBCdSQfF/before.PNG) **AFTER SPUD** ![after.PNG](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmTDhrETs5xsrFg5vEx79iwEed7X7MzUPSXVKTnWXB9oBG/after.PNG) Special thanks to all the great sponsors, organisers and promoters of SPUD. I tip my hat to you and all those other great Steemians who are taking part in SPUD this time around. _____ ![TeamAust_buggedout.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmUt49vWU6QZLjCaRE1BvngS3jQb52Tc76kDZkhinhWCo1/TeamAust_buggedout.png) ![steemsilvergold_buggedout.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmaq8QsJtKKAQhFK7MhQAgz31TA3zwDPXuM8sNX1Rrhb3y/steemsilvergold_buggedout.png)