A Gutsy Open Letter To @berniesanders In 'Familiar' Language, From A Stranger

Hi Bernie,

I've tried to keep this concise so as to have a chance of holding your attention, dunno if I have succeeded :(.

As you state in a comment somewhere, you have been flagging less, including in this latest bout of flag-warring! I posted a cheeky pic on @baah's post, yet neither pic nor post invoked the famous 'Bernie' flag. Of course you may not have seen mine, and you did outright dismiss Bah's - as you say, Sherlock Homesesque findings in the backwaters of the Steemniverse. I therefore take courage and speak freely. C'est la vie if you see red, I certainly do not mean to provoke!

Forgive any assumptions here, but I think you are pretty complex in your make up. You're super smart, of that there is no doubt! That you have done a lot for the Steem community has been stated by various high profilers - and that you don't shout about it is greatly to your credit. I've observed significant and subtle variation in your expression - you have left comments (including in the past few days) which have seemed to me to be reasonable responses to people who have entered the current 'conversation' between you and FTG. Sure you also seem to really like being a celebrity with a somewhat (very?) sycophantic following (in part anyway) that reflects your glory back to you, sings your praises and worships in your temple. I'm not mocking you, I do think you have such a thing as 'glory'!

I personally do not know you or your intentions. You do seem to like 'power' of some kind or another, and can choose to be obnoxious when you want - as you said somewhere "I can take criticism, but I choose not to!" I use the word 'power' because you have enough 'wealth' to make further accumulation a potentially dull exercise of number churning. I mean, at almost 1000 SP (200 currently stuck in Binance), I consider myself to be totally in the clear because when crypto shoots (as it will), what I have will be more than sufficient, although of course it'll keep accumulating. For someone like you, the numbers become kinda meaningless, so what's left over to desire?

Notwithstanding the above, you are also clearly generous to those who please, appease or delight you; and of course you are a fellow stoner :). You are The Flamboyant Bernie Sanders, but this is also a role of sorts, and there is a real, breathing, heart-thumping being behind the mask. I do not judge you, I just don't really know where you stand on things that are meaningful to me at a higher level.

I'm not knocking you man, I mean, ffs this is a 'personally' addressed letter from a nobody with nothing much to lose (I acknowledge you can easily make life on Steem difficult :) and I certainly have nothing to gain from gratuitous provocation...if you're grumpy, you may call it attention seeking...I'm ok with that, and perhaps you'd be right too!

I don't know @fulltimegeek either, no exchanges on or off the blockchain. However, I have benefited (cryptonancially :) from him in 3 ways - (1) an FTG vote on a post (2) an FTB bot-vote storm on a recent post (3) a delegation from @abh12345 (indirectly FTG). I also have a feel for his intentions, all the do-goody stuff that you, in your anger, were knocking - it resonates extremely well with me. I think you used those words in anger mainly, and that inside, in your heart, you would agree that FTG's widespread support has had a positive effect, that it has been truly inspirational. Sure, the crowd responses to it vary from genuine to sycophantic, but that's the human impulse - the same kinda goes for responses you receive no?

What FTG set in motion was a tidal wave - sure with plenty of utopian energy, but yet realisable and realistic, and it has been demonstrated to work! This energy of Pay It Forward is some pretty radical shit in a world where it is considered 'normal' and 'natural' to accumulate as if there is no tomorrow, and as if integrity does not matter. It's pretty clear that his whole delegation setup has benefited all parties, including FTG himself, although clearly not at nearly the same rate as self-voting/promoting with massive SP (you are clearly not a haejin btw).

I have to admit that, on the face of it, I was surprised at how passionate FTG's reaction to project 'x' was. This is a human drama between you guys, entertainment for some, but real feelings for the protagonists! In my self-licensed speculation/projection fest, I consider FTG's strength of feeling to stem from the approach of using his stake to benefit all; the time and energy and emotion that has gone into this for him; and now, having become a witness, an even greater sense of responsibility (and pressure) to right wrongs - all this powerfully embedded within a deep sense of Divine Providence. His is also a Very Big Plate! Perhaps there are elements of over-responsibility in presenting himself as the cleanup man, I can see that.

And your feelings? I'm assuming they got hurt too! If you have had good intentions for your project, FTG's flagging suggests this not to be the case. As stated above, you appear to have moderated some (a lot even?) of the 'obnoxious' behaviour that your detractors (I'm not in your camp, but I am not a detractor) associate with you. This then must seem unfair to you, and, tough exterior or not, it hurts when one feels falsely accused of something. Please note I'm not saying fair or not, I just don't know.

I can only see what transpires on the blockchain. The two of you perhaps have had communications off-chain (likely) and the story certainly must have deeper and parallel dimensions to it. I see the history of your interactions via the accounts @berniesanders and @fulltimegeek before the current outbreak, and there's not a lot. There appears to have been some attrition after your united actions during the haejin flag wars, and I can imagine that the current situation built up over time, however it may have done so.

From: https://mysteemitfriends.online/conversation.php?User1=fulltimegeek&User2=berniesanders

I am nobody: I'm not a peace-maker or sycophant, nor a wannabe-wannabe. I've thought quite long about whether to post this or not. I am declining payout, not as a pre-emptive move against a Bernie flag lol, but as a gesture of my sincerity in writing this, however it may look and come across. Call it a Sacrifice to the Gods of Peace if you will! And, if I have somehow magically managed to piss BOTH of you off, well you can unite in disdain for an out-of-depth-barge :).

I have no practical suggestions to make, I'm far enough out on this limb as it is and I really don't know shit! You guys already know what to do. You both have BIG boots to fill. You both have stature, poise, influence and glory. Both of you can play games too, that's for sure :). From my side, I wish you understanding, tolerance and reconciliation; with peace and respect.

If you've made it down here, bravo and many thanks 🔆.

@barge

PS. An aside on the whole Flat Earth thing. Sure it is an easy dig at FTG for you and followers, an easy looking derision-milker that many are supping gleefully from. I'm not a Flat-Earther myself and would've dismissed it outright a few years ago. However, I did look into it and, as with 9-11, the only clear sense I came away with was that the official story we have been 'told' (or sold) is full of holes. This means I don't consider myself to know what the objective 'Truth' is and, even if I don't accept FE as literally so, I can thank it for opening a doorway. It's pretty fascinating to have Belief Systems (another BS :) toppled - I've had many go down and they continue to pop!