"There comes a time when one must take the position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must do it because conscience tells him it is right." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Awesomeness of the Steem Blockchain

I've been using the Steem blockchain since October 2017 and I absolutely love the ideas that it exemplifies. I came here because I was tired of being censored, blocked and controlled by big brother. As I'm sure we all know, the centralized social media platforms are owned, monetized and controlled by centralized corporate and government interests, which violates every principle I've learned about freedom, integrity and honour.

I was welcomed by a number of people who supported my work and in return I did the best I could to pay that generosity forward to help others along their journey. This decentralized, distributed, independent platform of freedom and free speech is setting the standard for how people can communicate around the world without tyrannical governments dictating how we interact with one another or by making the middle man rich in the process.

I've witnessed this cryptocurrency make a huge difference for many users who live in 3rd world countries as they were able to find support to help them where centralized banks and tyrannical governments are interested in poverty, suppression and control. This platform was also integral for some of my dear friends who managed to share information as they found themselves caught in political turmoil, martial law and other suppressive situations.

This blockchain has brought freedom to thousands upon thousands of people all over the world and allowed for connections to form that impacted peoples lives in ways we may never comprehend. The benefits of the Steem blockchain have been discussed by many people through many posts. As people start to use the blockchain, the creative capacity of our species have found ways to leverage it in ways that the creators may not have even contemplated.

As applications continue to be developed and plugged into the blockchain, it will reap benefits for all users, large and small. By removing the centralized bankers, government bureaucracy and the red tape that goes along with large centralized institutions, the Steem Blockchain will contribute significantly to our freedom and liberty around the world, no matter which country you may live in.

To suggest that any of us can really comprehend the significance that this and other blockchains are having on our daily lives or how it is influencing the politics of today, would be a naive understatement. While this blockchain was created by a group of people functioning under a corporate umbrella, it was turned over to us and it is up to each and every single one of us to look after it all. We all have a VESTed interest in the platform, how it is governed and where it goes from here and into the future.

The Dark Side of Freedom

There is a dark and sinister side to this level of freedom and if we are not used to governing ourselves in this type of environment, our dark side will manifest. This is where our character is tested. If someone has a propensity for greed, then greed will show up. I've witnessed some of the most beautiful expressions of love, compassion and generosity, only to have it contrasted with the most brutal frustration, hatred and vile contempt of others.

The childish, violent and abusive behaviour being displayed here is not a surprise to me as I've written from time to time about how this platform is a microcosm reflection of the macrocosm of the world. I knew that there would be challenging times as people on this platform would resort to control, passing judgements, manipulations, spam, name calling and a whole host of other abhorrent warlike behaviours. People think that they can manipulate or control others to behave in specific ways and in the end those methods never work. They fail because people don't recognize the truth, that we cannot change anybody but ourselves. It is up to each and every single one of us to learn how to govern ourselves, walk the path and find ways to influence others to do the same. Trying to change others is a futile attempt that will always fail, no matter how hard we try or how much force we put behind it.

We influence change through leadership by example. We don't dictate how others behave but instead how we walk the path, share our stories and influence others by example. If they like what we are doing and start mimicking our behaviours, then we have made the world a better place. However, if we resort to violence and abusive behaviour, then we detract from this world and making it darker and less pleasant for ourselves and others.

The leaders on this blockchain are the witnesses that literally host the blockchain and produce tools & apps on their infrastructure, those who have lots of Steem Power to reward authors through their curation for their work or those who author content that inspires large groups of followers.

Remember, with great power comes great responsibility.

These influential leaders on this blockchain have a duty and responsibility not only to themselves but to all the other users on this blockchain. Thousands of people are looking to this group of elite individuals to lead by example and I include myself in that list. If you want to know if you are in this list, then I would suggest finding out if you are in the top 10% of those with steem power, reputation, followers, payout or some of the other metrics used on the blockchain.

The 90% of the other users absolutely depend on the 10% to lead by example. This is a critical component to the health and well being of the blockchain, cryptocurrency, blogging and the interchange between users as it requires a safe, stable, welcoming, friendly environment. Any disruptions in those requirements have a significant impact on the success of all the others on the blockchain. It should be the goal of all leaders to help the 90% become leaders themselves and no longer be dependent upon others.

The ongoing war that started by flagging users has now escalated to spamming people, name calling, abusive memes, punishing users through flagging, passing judgements, hatred and the most absolutely vile behaviour I've seen, which is NOT befitting leaders of this blockchain. No amount of justification can ever make these behaviours okay. To make matters worse, large groups of people are rallying around the leaders, forming factions as the lines are drawn in this war. The leaders are finding support for their campaigns and that saddens me greatly.

The problem that I see is that specific leaders are behaving like politicians and I thought that the vast majority of the people using this blockchain are here because we don't agree with what politicians are doing. Maybe I was wrong. These leaders and some of their followers are behaving like children or even resort to stealing, manipulating situations or even engage in abhorrent behaviours for their own political gain. They are not afraid to abuse or violate people to obtain their objectives. This platform is manifesting the same types of behaviours that I've seen in municipal, provincial and even federal politics and that brings dishonour to the blockchain and significantly tarnishes the integrity of the blockchain and all the users that use it.

We all have our own individual reputation, but we are also ambassadors to the Steem Blockchain and right now, the blockchain needs a great reputation!

This war is scaring people, especially those who have little to no influence here. People come here to earn cryptocurrency, build relationships with people and network for the betterment of mankind. They come here to escape big brother, centralized banks and other tyranny in this world. But wars, whether they are out there with bombs or here with flags, name calling and violence, ends up driving people away, scaring the shit out of them or hurting them, physically, emotionally, mentally and even spiritually.

Why are we here?

We are here because the corporate and government institutions only exist for the betterment of the uber elite. They are not designed to bring prosperity to the masses of people. The Steem Blockchain can bypass the beast and indeed bring prosperity and freedom to everyone. When I first got here, the idea of supporting the red fish and minnows was just starting to take hold in the hearts and minds of many.

I've also witnessed many other groups start up to do similar work. I thought that all the key leaders of the Steem Blockchain held these values dear to their hearts, but it turns out that some of them may have gotten side tracked or misguided in their approach to delivering and upholding those values. We are here because the politicians are not interested in helping the little guy, but we are, or at least I thought we are! If we want everyone to find success here, it is the duty and responsibility of the leaders on this platform to facilitate that objective.

I call out all the leaders to re-examine the foundations of their values and check in with their hearts to ensure that their actions and behaviours are in integrity, honour and resonance with their value systems and that of this blockchain. War does not fit in with that protocol and those who engage in war are abandoning their duties and responsibilities to the users that engaged with the blockchain. Those that engage in the war, even through encouragement and support of their supporters, are engaged in treason against the kingdom that we all have built on this blockchain. Your actions and behaviours jeopardize the value, integrity and honour of all those who contributed their blood, sweat and tears to this blockchain. Your subvert the value of millions of hours of creative human capacity that has already gone into this blockchain by corrupting the integrity of this blockchain.

I ask the leaders of this blockchain: What actions, behaviours or protocols will we all exemplify in order to encourage ALL users to rise up to the highest standards of ethics, morality and behaviours so that we can end these wars, bring peace to the blockchain and manifest prosperity to all the users who wish to engage with us here?

If we are not willing to evaluate the moral and ethical standards upon which we govern ourselves on this blockchain, then we risk loosing the freedoms we enjoy and we might as well turn over governance and enforcement to the state as that is where we are headed. Freedom of speech, freedom of association and other freedoms will all be gone if we don't figure out how to make this all work in a peaceful way. We must find ways to resolve disputes without resorting to violence, flagging, etc. and without the use of courts or other authorities or jurisdictions.

Nobody is the police or court here and as such, nobody has the authority to engage in any level of judgements or enforcement. These are old habits that we must break if we want true freedom.

This platform is being tested. We are all being tested!!! Are we ready to govern ourselves? If so, that demands that each user on this platform ask themselves the question: Am I able and willing to govern myself with peace, freedom, tolerance, patience and love? If so, then it is time to learn how to do that without the use of flag wars, violence or coercion. It will require peaceful conflict resolution protocols, patience, tolerance, peaceful confrontation, joy and love.

Ironically, the leaders engaged in the war only continue the path due to the support of those in their camps. The masses are the ones that keep these wars going and if we all walked away from the leaders who engage in these behaviours, they would most likely stop. If you are part of the 90%, congratulations, you are leaders too! This same principle works in the real world as well. That is why I decided not to name any of the leaders or support their efforts in any way, as I refuse to give them more publicity as that is what I suspect they are feeding on. In fact, I am ready to mute anybody who participates in the war, through flagging, violent behaviour, abusive meme's, spam or other behaviours.

If you are not willing to govern yourself and lead by example, then why are you here?

Tyranny? Greed? Power? Control? Ego? Publicity?

“Those who are capable of tyranny are capable of perjury to sustain it.” ― Lysander Spooner

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