Hard Fork 20 was necessary and some of the new features might help with some of the ongoing issues we are having on the platform. The transition was a shit show however… many of us grudgingly endured it but it was frustrating as hell. It wold have all been fine and good had I not found out through this here comment from the horses mouth aka @ned that the top 20 witnesses did not even bother to read any of of the release notes nor test the damn thing until 2 days before the fork! yup you are hearing right, instead of testing it like any other company on the planet, months or at least weeks ahead of implementation these entitled asses did squat and we had to deal with the chaos of their inaction.
Now what they try to make you believe here is that you can change the situation with your vote, vote the witnesses you want into office, problem is that like in post voting your general user vote is dirt against a whale vote and the top 20 are subsidised by several large accounts most prominently @freedom whole vote holds a huge punch. basically like in real life politics the game is rigged and we the plebs are completely powerless within the system. steemit is sold as bastion of freedom but basically is just another slave ship in a pretty disguise or in modern terms a pyramid scheme.
We have three choices here we either have to suck it up and realise we are but one more brick in the wall feeding the fat rich upperclass, or we need to walk away and make our own platform, or we need to demand that we are heard and receive equal voting power across the board when it comes to witness voting. Only then will we receive a crew that actually is dedicated to make this blockchain a stellar experience. Our current system just makes leaches fat but the strange thing is that those leaches are so greedy that they do not understand that an amazing blockchain with dedicated Witnesses would bring them in much more revenue than this deformed limping Quasimodo chain we have right now. How do you want to bring in investors when the crew is flouncing about like prepubescent brats?- it looks horrible and it won’t sell! We need to demand that every steemian receive and equal powered vote when it comes to witness votes, if we don't what we have now is all we will get.
Also who makes the decisions on hard fork changes because some of them are so backward and illogical example- the new curation set up if you vote to early on a comment or a post that upvotes goes back to the rewards pool. it was designed to penalise the rampant self voting and allow curators a chance to receive spoils as well as the author …problem is that it also stifles communication. When I have time I like to answer people in real time and we often have longer real time conversations; which I like to reward but now can’t. Same thing with posts, when @ginabot alerts me of a post I go there read and upvote- now I can’t. I have to wait like an idiot and most likely will forget to go back as I actually have a life outside of Steemit …I know shocking! Mix this nonsense with the new resource credit implementation that has people already thinking twice about commenting and I see a threat to Steemit’s most valuable asset -the communities that have built themselves here ! So why on earth not just disallow self votes? It would have been the simplest solution. I have to think it is because many huge accounts make huge coin in the self voting game and as long as this is the undercurrent of Steemit it will always just be another sad disappointment on a grander scale.
It is really sad because this platform has the potential to be world changing from funding research to helping people build real world self sufficient communities to fostering the independent arts on a never before seen scale ... the things I see we could do and achieve here are literally limitless. I was so full of hope when I first came here. Now I am just sad and remain here for the friends I made. Steemit is no utopia and it sadly probably never will be. Take the shiny innovative mask off and it reflects our physical word perfectly some animals are very much more equal than others. And like in our real world utopia is just fingertips away however made unachievable by the greed that infects most of us. This selfish short sightedness, this need to amass as much as possible, in the shortest amount of time regardless of consequence; this ugly rampant trait that is prevalent in our species keeps us from a world of abundance and peace both in the real world and here … sad sorry sods we are …the lot of us …
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Small correction it has come to my attention that @crimsonclad and the 13th witness (not Doctor) @followbtcnews are one and the same. So I would like to say that she was online giving out communication the whole disastrous period on several servers on discord and answering questions so in her case I will say she earned the respect and spot in the top 20. I apologise to her for this oversight.
(Image credit Dave Renike and a portrait of the fair jubilee made by myself turned into this here universal truth meme) 
Artists & Musicians wanted for the One Project
Image source
art courtesy of @PegasusPhysics
)
this little girl was made for me by @barbara-orenya
I feel like I wrote this post a year ago. The answer is all three. Stick around and build a community and make what money you can make and when something better is ready start up over there together. I don’t know if such a system which is equal and free from corruption will be viable because we are inevitably linked to the monetary system and people are still far from unified in the better world they want to see. I think the best we can do is build a network of trust and understanding where we sincerely want everyone to benefit to a large degree from the fruits of our collective labor. If some are going to benefit more than others, I won’t argue because we are millennia deep in that game, but at least the disparity should not be so massive and the greatest rewards should go to those who contribute great things rather than those who simply work the system.
Well said :)
Steemit hath the potential but has repeatedly squandered such. It displays to the internet how you can do what you love and earn money, but often that wish is smothered quickly by economic neglect and nonrecognition of new authors. It parades paradise (not utopia, at least not even somewhere near close to Thomas More’s Utopia nor Owen’s utopia), but ‘tis a spectacle for the whales (which I wish not to be a word because whales have huge hearts unlike these fools). We truly bought into the False Images of Steemit and now see the True Image, its writhing unconsciousness that’s evocative of NeoLiberalism. The one it wanted to improve upon, yet desiring to reap its rewards and still live in it (much to the same as Owen’s utopia that wanted to be a better Capitalism but falling prey to still act what it escaped). Yet I find funny that they hadn’t foolproofed it for the majority of whales and now methinks they reversed their NeoLiberal austerity programme whence they saw their whales merely scratched. Oh I shall upvote and resteem this good article.
<3
I share your frustration. I count myself among those who came here with lots of expectations and see the potential for limitless positive transformations in our society from here.
I have taken notes of the witnesses you recommend. I have read posts of people who somehow blame the users for this mess, for not having gotten more involved, for not having questioned witnesses, or even for not having exercised their right to vote for witnesses.
The way I see it, there are tons of people here who ignore the mechanics of this platform and do some other kind of involvement that has to do precisely with the function this platform has advertised itself to serve. So we would need more information from those in the know, so that minnows can get more involved if they decide to do so.
I'm not sure how the whole equal vote for witnessed can be channeled but I’d be more than willing to support that motion.
Really? I've never come across such accusations so far, can you give me a link?
This is kinda hilarious. Blaming the middle class for their lack of involvement. As if a middle class ever got involved into society too much. In the outside world, middle class people are just too busy complaining about politicians who they assume being far from (their own) reality. Why should it be different here?
(I'm not talking about myself but the majority of the reputation 40-65 people.)
Hi, @isarmoewe. I think this is one of the post i ran into. At least that was my reading.
https://steemit.com/busy/@taskmaster4450/the-hard-fork-20-fiasco-was-the-best-thing-to-happen-to-steem-and-who-is-responsible
Well said. Pls dont upvote my comment until the appropriate time and also i am ending the conversation now. Lol, nice read.
Some good points, my friend.
I think a lot of people make the mistake of thinking these networks are "for the people by the people" kind of things. They are here to make rich people richer.
The one thing I think that the forkup showed the big boys is that in some way they do need the plebs. It gave me much pleasure looking at the posts of people who normally get big upvotes seeing they had very little. I guess it does show that if people could be organised to go on a #steemstrike it would make a bit of a difference. But I don't know if the will is there. To be honest I don't think I have the energy to fight on a big scale. I will continue trying to engage with the little people (elves, dwarves, goblins and the occational hobbit): they are much more intresting than the giants, anyway. They can go fork themselves.
I am going to the witness list right now and removing anyone I have in the top 20. If anyone has a good list of hardworking witnesses down the food chain let me have it.
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Literally!
Witnesses I know who actually do stuff for the community
sapphic
thekitchenfairy
c0ff33a
arcange
castellano
dragosroua
drakos
enginewitty
jatinhota
noblewitness
ocd-witness
prc
themarkymark
from the top 20 only curie does anything in my opinion ...
update - I meant for the community not in this situation .
I have a lot of them, but not all. So I'll add the ones I don't have. Thanks
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Small correction it has come to my attention that @crimsonclad and the 13th witness (not Doctor) @followbtcnews are one and the same. So I would like to say that she was online giving out communication the whole disastrous period on several servers on discord and answering questions so in her case I will say she earned the respect and spot in the top 20. I apologise to her for this oversight.
I miss reggaemuffin, holger80 and therealwolf on this list.
Interesting read, I'm pretty disconnected from all the inner workings of Steemit. This makes me want to get more in the know and understand it better. When you said "the things I see we could do and achieve here are literally limitless." Reading this, I'm now curious to see what potential we can unlock if we harness the technology in a fair manner. Would you consider making a post on this? (I know you touched on it a bit) A post discussing what Steemit could be and the consequences for its users. It just seems like a logical train of thought/action to follow from this post. However, just a suggestion lol! Keep up the good work Tyger! Btw is Tygertyger a reference from The Mentalist?
The reference is from the william blake poem ... here is a post I made that details some of the things I could see happening it is just the tip of the iceberg though > nifty post
Thx will check it out
"And like in our real world utopia is just fingertips away however made unachievable by the greed that infects most of us." Seems like a road to hell paved with good intentions, "animal farm" book master-slave mentality manifested in whatever good intentions we had to start off with. The average souls of the people in charge will externally represent itself so Steemit going in the wrong direction means the average soul in charge aren't aligned with good.
agreed sadly
I upvoted your post.
Mabuhay, keep steeming.
@Filipino
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It still worked the described way for plenty of people till last Tuesday. Yes, we had that middle-layer that's so vital for any economy.
Now I don't know. Some are continuing to post their (probably pre-produced) content. Others turned their energy into discussions about HF20. Some are still in post-HF20 lack-of-RC coma, it seems, or just unwilling to bring on content.
Being on Steemit for 13 months now this is the first HF I experienced. Maybe just that long time explains why it was handled so badly.
All I can say is ... very well put!!