Have you ever watched those movies where someone has invented a device that is about to be used for the good of humanity?
It's about to save the world. Make crops miraculously grow in the desert, or cure cancer, or create free electricity for every human on the planet.
And just when you think, "Ooooh! Wouldn't that be awesome for real? I want to live in this fantasy world too!!!", some secret agency funded by the organizations that would be financially impacted by food for all, cured cancer, or free electricity, swoops in and confiscates the device.
And what do they always say?
They are taking it away "on the basis of national security."
And we all really know what that means, don't we?
Surely, there is no one in the audience cheering the organization on saying, "whew! We THOUGHT this was a fantastic idea but we are SO THANKFUL that you are here to rescue us from ourselves! Who knew that this was a threat to our national security??? Wow. You did. We are grateful."
They cloak their actions in "protecting lives" but it seems it is only protecting the livelihood of the few at the expense of the masses.
Remember a few weeks back? A whole slew of people got memos in their wallets blackmailing them to change their witness votes or they would get downvoted.
I remember the general air of annoyance. How dare this nutjob blackmail everyone! This user obviously doesn't know how blockchain works. We don't use blackmail to get our way here. Take that nonsense to the "real world", pal. This is Steemit.
Cut to 73 million steem being held in ransom by a soft fork until someone agrees to assure the community that he won't use it the way he wants. He will ONLY use it the way you want. Ok? Is that ok?
But don't worry, everyone. They wouldn't do that to YOUR stake.
You're not a "threat to national security." See? Get it?
Carry on with your lives and sleep at night knowing that your puny stake doesn't matter to them. You only will have your stake held, if you purchase a lot and then you choose to NOT defend how, why and where you're going to use it to the powers that be.
Oh, but wait. You bought it? Just like everyone else?
Sorry. You should have bought a DIFFERENT set of 73 million steem.
Then, you wouldn't have to get permission to use it, sell it, trade it, gift it, vote with it, etc.
BUT WAIT...he didn't just purchase massive amount of steem. He owns Steemit, Inc. now too!
Right, and didn't the WHOLE chain go up in arms for a week explaining that Steemit, Inc is NOT steem. It is ONLY a dapp, like steempeak, splinterlands...and we force THE OWNERS of those dapps to tell us what they're doing with their stake too !!!!
Oh. We don't? Huh.
Remember when HF20 came out? And it affected alllllll those little accounts. And the concensus was, "sorry, not sorry. You don't like how this affected your options on the platform? Well, now you have to pay to play."
And there was NO sympathy for the new user. It was "Invest to keep your options, or don't. But this is how the platform is changing."
And when we said that there are users all around the world that cannot invest in steem in the same way that others can afford, there was no sympathy. Either they would afford it or not, but the game would change with or without them.
I say now to those same voices....you don't like that someone purchased all that power? Well, pay to play. Invest YOUR money to buy more power. OH. You can't afford it? Well, afford it or not, but the game has changed. You can pay to stay in the game or you can get squeezed out.
I used to want to be a whale, but now I see that whales are subject to being "threats to national security" too.
It almost makes one wish that this certain game-changing whale would purchase another 73 million steem with a new account ....just to see what excuse they would have to seize THAT 73 million.
I'm not saying I wholly trust either party. I'm just saying undermining the integrity of the chain while saying you're protecting the chain is duplicitous.
Just say what you're doing.
"We don't trust that he won't change everything. We weren't expecting this. We are eliminating the threat to preserve our power, and we will do the same to anyone who threatens our power."
Oh silly me. That would be a PR nightmare. Just stick with "Threat to national security". It's much tidier and the masses will thank you.
Hey look- a new post! The top 50 witnesses are invited to have a town hall meeting. Well, I guess the ransom worked!
Hm. I guess we all should be grateful.
La la la. Life goes on.
Disclaimer: Yes I stopped posting. Yes I powered down after the successive hard forks that I disagreed with. Yes I have continued to have love for the Steem community while sitting back and watching. Yes I have been in shows and watching from a distance. Yes I have been supportive of this platform in ways that are not public. You can disagree with the opinion in my post, but "them's the facts above".
As far as what has transpired in the last week or so, it would have been nice if things were handled better- we all can agree on that. After the shock of #softfork, I'm happy that @justinsunsteemit wants to talk because I think cooperation of both sides is the best way forward. I just don't think that blackmail and holding his steem as ransom (oh, yes you did) should have EVER been the tactic used by witnesses.
I'm happy that Justin has chosen to respond the way he did. #ForNow I also think you're foolish if you honestly think your actions won't have serious repercussions down the road when things "settle". Most businessmen forgive, but rarely forget- especially when it comes to touching their money.
Image from pixabay
I don't think they will understand that statement. They failed to understand how not everyone was going to be able to make free accounts from hf19. Even though it was pointed out, at that time everyone was only those of Dolphin status or higher at the time. That worked for them, then the next hard fork they pretty much forked out the lower dolphins with the reward curve clearly providing the most support/benefit for the orca crowd, and now the have gone and poked the whales with a soft fork.
Kind of makes you wonder what the next hard fork will really be, will it really be a stand alone often schedule missing SMT hard fork, will the stand alone SMT hard fork now include all the other little things that have been mentioned such as the shorter time to power down?
The fact that you say you don't think they'll understand..... makes me sad
Not because you said it - but because I think you're probably right.
They've been in "that world" for too long, I think. I did have high hopes that when @justinsunsteemit came - that he would do great things.
And... who knows? Maybe he still can (if he's willing to overlook this powerplay show of force... but wow. if he can - then I DO have hope!!!)
I think we have a strong dev team, the powerful directing presence of @elipowell as managing director and now Justin's ability to hype and his willingness to throw some money behind this - and his clear ability to get things moving.... it really is the perfect storm of potential! (potential, i say)
Now if we could ALL just get the egos in check.....
I am proud of you, for standing up for what is right.
You have always supported the new members, the smaller voices, the ones not heard, or the ones ignored.
Thanks @bluefinstudios - I was tempted to just stay quiet and shake my head... but - there are a lot of voices defending this move "for the sake of protecting steem". Figured I might as well be a voice that points out the hypocrisy of that. I know fear can be a powerfully motivating factor for bad decisions. I also know fear is hard to admit. But - ultimately, It's just not a good excuse for doing the wrong thing. ever.
Miss your passion for quality people and quality projects on the Steem blockchain. I support you in your decisions and hope that all is well.
oh sir! it's so good to see you!!!! :) I do miss the "good ol days" when the platform was a different place! I still see snippets of it here and there, when I find the "old timers" like us hahahahaha
and of course the tried and true who just won't leave! (and i love them for it)
I hope you're well!!! seeing your name really brought a smile to my face today!
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STOPTo support your work, I also upvoted your post!
i know you're a bot.... but thank you anyway :)
It's caused a lot of tension but luckily hasn't really affected the market as much. I had hopes that Sun will actually invest a shit ton of money and build a bunch of dapps that would make Steem prettier and more interesting for the people at Tron, and the general public. Time will tell anyways.
I spoke about their paranoia and how they secretly made a decision with our votes here. While they may have the interest of the community at heart, I find it weird that that they're whining over Sun's silence then go on to do something like that(soft fork)
yes - time will tell. It always does... :)
and you're right - it hasn't affected the market yet - but I think that's because @justinsunsteemit chose the high road and responded quickly and de-escalated the situation.
I know that the witnesses were frustrated with his silence - but once again.... he doesn't answer to them. He is a dapp owner (owner of Steemit, Inc.) and does not owe them anything. They can ask, and they can wait - like everyone else in the world. He owns a large stake that HE purchased, and is not required to defend anything that he does with it.
That can be a very scary proposition - for sure! A new player in the mix, and he's not readable yet? We can't trust his intentions? Can be terrifying!!! But to pre-emptively move to freeze his account. Wow. Who's next? And why?
Steem is down quite a bit more than the rest of the market today
funny how hypocrisy often rears its head, don't you think?
it's always very telling when one thing is said when it applies to "them" but something else is said when it applies to "not them"
way of the world. It just frustrates me that this place was always supposed to be different from the real world, but of course.... that was naive and hopeful of me.
Read your post - and left you a comment :)
It is wonderful to hear from you, sweet friend! And yes, life goes on!
Have a blessed day, @dreemsteem, and take care 🥰🌺🤙
Posted using Partiko iOS
Thank you dear friend! I hope you're well and thriving <3 I appreciate the visit!!!
Hello!
This post has been manually curated, resteemed
and gifted with some virtually delicious cake
from the @helpiecake curation team!
Much love to you from all of us at @helpie!
Keep up the great work!
Manually curated by @niallon11.
@helpie is a Community Witness.
Thanks so much @niallon11, @helpie and @helpiecake!
Seems we are on the same page, love seeing this. 🥰Crazy it's been 9 months! But you were here the whole time 🤗
@alliedforces curate 2
Keep up the great work and join us in The Castle sometime!
The #spreadlovenotwar curation campaign is under the guidance of witnesses @enginewitty and @untersatz.
Love that we're on the same page! I just read yours and am about to leave a comment! and i know - 9 months??? geez. But..... for my FAM.... never far away :)
and soon... CLOSER :) hahahaha
I'm happy to see you weighing in. I myself left again right around the time you did and just recently showed back up because I really like Steempeak and the new community feature. But...the Justin Sun drama has me holding back a bit. Not because of him, but because of the drama surrounding it. I'll sum my take up by pasting my comment from another post on the same topic.
Comment
"Where there is a bottleneck there is Centralization. The witness feature is a bottleneck. So, this changes nothing, because Steem has always been centralized, but now it's highlighted and is harder to rationize away as many have done in the past.
As of right now, with what Sun has said on the initial announcement, this(the softfork) benefits the top witnesses. There's no evidence that this benefits the platform as a whole.
I view this as a coup by an Oligarchy to save themselves only.
I was not asked my opinion nor were the majority of stakeholders asked, so this is not a consensus and certainly cannot claim to be community supported.
My initial opinion was 180° from this, but after quite a few discussions and a bit of research my mind was changed. The witnesses should have done the same outside of their tight circles.
I'm not impressed."
From this blog
https://steemit.com/thealliance/@enginewitty/sunfork-22-2-weighing-in-on-the-justin-sun-soft-fork#@notconvinced/q67wqc
ah yes Witty! I read his post and need to comment but was commenting here first.
and hey there!!!! so good to see you! hahahaha I cant believe my first post after so long (and probably last?? LOL) got a comment from you!!!
that's awesome!
and your comment - yep. That's why I left a while ago. It became abundantly clear what the writing on the wall was. And I agree - it just keeps getting harder and harder to deny their motivations, right? LOL
sad, but true. What can one do? Not much - except post their two cents and commiserate with long-lost friends ;)
Hey! People!
LOOK!
Up, in the sky!
It's a bird!
It's a plane!
Noooo, wait a minute;
That's my fiery friend,
Dreemsteem!!!...❤️
😄😇😉
You always had your ways with words and to give a voice to the smaller ones 😊 heart at the right place and we both share the same passion about a better world. I want to live in a world ruled by ❤️ and not 💲💵
Where the gesture of helping your neighbours means more than the size of your wallet.
To understand the power in coming together... And work together... If we do, we can accomplish anything.
But If greed and only ego rules, you only care for your own well being and pocket, are ready to walk over anyone and anything to get your way.
Then its just not....my world to live in.
I feel, I care and we ALL MATTER!
If we fear things, isn't it better to face it together? Find the best solution for EVERYONE? I belive so.
Glad to read this my sapphire Sister and I hear you loud and clear ❤️❤️❤️
To make a change in the world.... We have to BE the change!
Love you 🤗🌹❤️🤗
Posted using Partiko Android
This sounds like a whale and dolphin story to me that I heard at Jervis Bay a couple of weeks ago. The Dolphin Reserve has approximately 100 dolphins but they always remain at alert due to a couple of whales in the area. Seems to me stay a small fish so the whales overlook me and I swim trouble-free in the ocean :)
@dreemsteem "Griff says hi"
You - are gonna get in soooo much trouble. I hope you are planning to wear an umpire's uniform when you come back this way pal LOLOL
Hello, Miss
hi sir
speeeeeedy replies.
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hi sir