Hi @berniesanders, I was actually thinking about something yesterday and it could be part of the full picture of Steemit if we want to take that step back and look at it, as you're suggesting.
Can/will a whale go rogue in the future?
I think it's important to have a realistic view of the future of Steemit and think about all possibilities way ahead so that we are prepared for it (for example maybe the hacking part could have been thought of more thoroughly before it actually happen and have a proactive solution implemented instead of a reactive one, not criticizing, just giving an example, the speed that got sorted out solidified my trust and commidtment in Steemit).
But back to the question. This week someone highlighted that a moderator on the Bitcointalk forum was deleting all posts that had a steemit link on them. ALL posts/comments, not just some of them what were spamming, begging for upvotes etc.
So in light of transparency and independence that are Steem's and Steemit's corner stones : Should we expect one of the current or future whales to be ticked off by a community decision and start going rogue and damage the community members with its power? Downvoting tons of quality posts, affecting the reputations/payouts dipping the market prices etc.
If this is a plausible scenario, should we get ready for it ahead of time and look at implementing some solutions in case it happens? (Maybe muting the voting ability even though that would be censoring and our ecosystem is built against that?)
Or should we just assume that all large SP holders are nice people and will always remain faithful?
PS. I hope I'm not misunderstood. I am fully committed to Steemit, vesting and reinvesting everything. Bernie, you're doing a great job, you've been one of the most active whales I have seen around and I applaud you for that. Many steemers faith has been restored/cemented by your continuous support!