RE: I have watched Steem and all Alts continuously go down for awhile now...
I see HF21 as the line in the sand. The extant profiteers and legacy ninjaminers are going all out to concentrate it in their wallets. Either Steem will die, or it will fix the distribution problem that HF21 is going to make ~90% worse (IMHO), or it will weakly dwindle along, and amount to little in the long run.
The ability to discuss issues and have each post of all disputants retained permanently is a way to hold politicians to account for campaign promises, to prevent the memory holing that is more and more happening IRL, and carefully consider proposals. Adding the ability to vote on those proposals and thereby fund them creates a non-geographically based government, and participation is completely voluntary. There is no coercion on Steem. There can be extortion, at worst.
Outside forces can yet impact Steemizens with guns, money, and lies, but what can't they? They can get in to the most secure jail I know about and off the most important witness of the worst corruption I've ever heard of.
Only the potential success of Steem actually might end that power of corruption, as far as I can tell. That's so much more valuable than a few bucks in my wallet, I can't even compare them. When HF21 hits in a week, and the brutality of the profiteering is at it's full flower, either the consequences will never be the same, or we'll solve them after seeing how horrible such profiteering is to a once vibrant community of people speaking their minds.
I expect the former. Imma not take my prediction as certain, and see what happens.