Some thoughts about the future of steem.

So... I'm making another post about steem/steemit cause there's a lot going on in regard to the subject.

I was feeling optimistic that there was going to be a way where we (The steem community) could work together and move forward with Justin Sun and Tron and other associated entities like Bittorrent, and the deal they have with Samsung etc.

Not to mention there was a lot of extra potential funding and it seemed like we would finally get more advertising and money spent to make people aware of the platform.

Justin claimed he didn't want to govern and wanted to work with "us" the steem peoples.
There were discussions, but, not much progress has been made and there continues to be a stalemate with witnessess among the original and those trying to assert some kind of force.

And... I stumbled on a post yesterday by one of the people who I respect and trust the most on the steem blockchain which I think is worth mentioning.

The post was by ats-david and I'll include the link.
https://steemit.com/steem/@ats-david/how-to-save-steem

I'm pretty sure he was the very first witness to sponsor the IFC contest I created and I've followed his opinion over the years and found him to be someone who does not sugar coat things and who is extremely straight forward and to the point and very critical of steemit inc while also still very passionate about steem.

He's probably the person I look to and trust the most on the chain and I remember asking him about Whaleshares back in the day when that was starting and he warned me against that... Yet, now... Based on what I gathered from his post he believes it's time to split into a separate chain and fork out steemit inc's ninjamined stake which has been the center of so much controversy since the beginning and which is still the center of so much controversy.

It looks like he has a lot of support so far and I imagine he only made that post after discussing this first with many other names in the community and he's not just doing this alone.
I get the impression that many of the top names are on board already and that it's likely going to happen.

I can't predict the future, I don't know what's really going on... Maybe there could still be some kind of "agreement", however... It's not looking that way to me. The sentiment I get is the relationship with Justin Sun is beyond repair for many of the bigger names on the platform.

I think steem lost a significant chunk of it's "energy" when Dan left and forked himself away, and then Ned forked himself away and now it looks like we might fork Justin away... And... I just have to wonder.

Are we hurting ourselves by splitting apart so much, or... Is this truly the power of decentralization and is this a beautiful and amazing thing in all reality? Or... Maybe a bit of both?

I could see how being stuck with Dan, Ned, or Justin could be very detrimental, the ability for people to go their own way and for the communities themselves to go their own way I think is very powerful.

The lack of censorship is I think still the main pull for me, but, what is that without a community? I think the community is truly what is valuable, and we have an amazing community who are creating a lot of amazing different kinds of project.
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My stake and my father's stake is a concern and I worry/wonder if we could get a high enough value on the new coin or get on enough exchanges...
But... I think this all showed me that I value the community more than the money cause I want to go with the community if they do leave.

I haven't 100% decided as I don't think I have enough information yet, yet, if ats-david and enough of the other big names like blocktrades and timcliff, then I will almost certainly be joining them.

I wanted to give steemit inc as much a chance as i could cause steem changed my life and steemit inc were a big part of that picture even if ned ended up extremely shady and dan had issues as well, I mean... We're all human.

I've stopped being so surprised by such kinds of things and have worked on loving and forgiving more and also looking forward and trying to find ways to improve and evolve.

And... That might very well be what is happening here...
I think you can say a lot of what is happening is historical because crypto is new, though, I think some of what's going on with steem/steemit will especially be looked back on in history as there's a lot of really interesting things happening in this sphere.

The idea of us as a community now after trying to be bought out and taken over, rejecting the attempted force and then not only sidestepping that, but, also forking out the centralized funds that were a major concern since the beginning could be... Very positive.

As chaotic, confusing and uncertain as many things seem right now, maybe... Just maybe this is the best thing that could have happened to us to allow us to free ourselves more from forces that would wish to control?

We already had one large exchange show interest in helping us after Justin Sun colluded with other exchanges to take over, even if we could just get that one it seems like that would be significant, but... Maybe in time we can get on a lot of exchanges and maybe we will even appeal to more people now that the place is less centralized and more free.

I've heard that ninjamined stake was a problem for some, maybe they will take another look if that's not an issue anymore.

And after reading around a bit, it looks like both chains will exist, so if for some reason one works and one doesn't, you could pick the one that works best for you or use both if they both work.

I don't have the time to use that many different social media, though, if you do... Then that's an idea to try to be on as many as you can be.

I'm reminded of Whaleshares, WeKu, and Golos which were all similar splits and I don't think any of those are doing that great... Pretty sure Golos was Russian only so that's kind of limiting, and I dunno how well any of them are doing really, but, I don't hear much.

However, if this happens I think it'll be a much more significant move, it seems like it'll be the main peoples who make up the community in regard to the major apps and witnesses and all that, so... Who knows...

steemit inc has messed up a lot of things over the years and many in the community have been very vocal about that.
Now... We have a chance to continue all of this without that centralized force... It could be amazing or disastrous I have no clue, lol.

One other thing I did want to say is that... Even though I've been so busy I haven't had time to get deep into it and I'm definitely not at the kind of level a witness might be... This whole thing happening on steem reminds me sort of the story of the founding of the United States originally...

There's so many libertarian or anarchic minds involved and we're trying to build this new more "free" and "fair" community and we're meeting a lot of adversity and figuring out a lot of things as we go.

It really does have a historical feel to it that I can't quite encapsulate or share with someone who isn't a part of the steem community... It's kind of like a freedom/digital/crypto revolution of sorts.

The events about steem have been reported on by like many if not most of the main crypto news outlets and the community feels like the world is watching, because... It is.
Some really crazy stuff has been going down... It's sort of like the Wild West and maybe some lawsuits will result as well, time will tell...

It's... Quite something to witness and be a part of even if I'm not as involved as I would like
I'm still waiting to see what happens, but... Fascinating times at steem/steemit and while I am still a bit concerned... I'm quite curious to see how this all pans out... The potential is very interesting to think about!

Okay, I think I've said enough for now. I hope your day is going swell and bye until next time! :)

Photo by Javier Allegue Barros on Unsplash