@alexvan, this is quite an insightful post and you raise a lot of important questions about motives. I completely agree with you that being a witness is about work, not self aggrandizement.
One thing that i think needs to be kept in mind is the 'techniques' used by the self voters. You asked Jerry, why he didn't flag them? Fair enough. But they also were voting at the very last minute to maximize their gains. So, although i agree with the sentiment, he kind of has to go out of his way in order to do that.
But all in all, great comments.
Lots to ponder here, cheers
Hey @v4vapid, thank you for the comment. It was one of the few that understood it. I was happy, that so many people responded to it, with their own comments, but most have been taking time to do it in a propper way, keeping the discussion to a certain level(some exeptions, but them we can ignore). This is showing me that steemit is on the good way, even if not all agree on the same topic. I'm happy to be able to have another opinion than others and still not to hold grudge and to agree on other topics. This is my image of the perfect society, to be free to have different opinions and still to respect the other.
My comment was just showing the principles of the witness on one side and not defending the top2, even if @tamim had stopped 9 days before the post (so it was pointless to point him out). I would have not made the comment if the top10 would have been presented, including himself with their good and bad voting patterns. This would fair to say, pointing the flaws in the system for all.
I'm more the sinner than the saint. I do use the bots to get more visibility on the post. My comments I do never upvote. But this is all my choice. It is how I see the impact on steemit and on the reward pool.