How to Save Steem

in #steem5 years ago

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I’m going to cut right to the chase because we need some straight talk.

At its core, Steem is nothing but computer software and a collection of data. Anyone can run this software and broadcast the data that is stored in the Steem blockchain. When it comes to the blockchain, “saving Steem” is simply a matter of running a node...or a matter of a group of people running a node with the same version of software on it.

Nobody can prevent the “saving” of Steem in this regard. Neither Justin, nor Binance, nor any future malicious individual or collusive group of individuals can stop it. Steem - as a digital object - can live on forever, so long as someone wants to store the data and run the software.

So what makes Steem something more that can actually be “saved” and is worth fighting for?

The community.

This is what makes Steem what it is. The developers, stakeholders, witnesses, businesses, bloggers, and the casual voters and observers are what make Steem a thing worth salvaging. All of these people are also what makes it impossible to destroy such a thing.

A community cannot be bought and destroyed...unless that community chooses to be for sale and subsequently dismantled.

We currently have people in our Steem community who are losing hope. We have people in our Steem community who are angry. We have people in our Steem community who are taking charge, giving up, or completely indifferent. And it’s OK to have any of these feelings or to take action or to do nothing.

But let’s be clear about how Steem can be “saved.”

We don’t need to endlessly battle with centralization. We don’t need to be infuriated with Justin Sun, Ned Scott, Binance, or Huobi. We don’t need to decide whether or not to send anyone’s tokens to @null. We don’t need to placate any group trying to take advantage of the current situation for their own benefit.

As a community, we can simply reject all of it. We can move on without a lasting struggle. We can part ways without “stealing” anything from anyone. We can take those of us who wanted a decentralized Steem in a new direction and we can go in that new direction with like-minded people.

The community is not stuck in one geographical location. We live in the digital realm. We are free to move. We have the means to move. We are nomads of the blockchain. Our home is not a place.

Our home is the connections we’ve made over the past four years. That home is not defined by one man, one website, or one token.

So how do we “save” Steem - the community that is Steem?

It’s simple: We move.

Nothing is preventing us from separating ourselves from the current Steem blockchain. There is an opportunity for a clean break from the baggage that has held Steem back for the past four years. There is an opportunity to simply throw off the shackles of centralization. There is an opportunity for us to learn from past mistakes, correct them, and improve upon the existing code and how we interact as a community.

All we need to do is run a different version of the current software. The community - with its developers, stakeholders, witnesses, businesses, bloggers, and the casual voters and observers - can simply choose to build on and follow those running the new version of software.

That’s it.

We would no longer need to stress about what ignorant or detrimental thing Justin Sun and his company or friends can do to the blockchain. We would no longer have to stress about Steemit’s stake being sold or how it can be used to centralize the blockchain. We would no longer have to stress about vote campaigns to “take back the chain,” watching every day and wondering if this will be the day Steem “dies.”

We’ve never lost the Steem blockchain. It can’t be lost.

We can’t lose the community unless we no longer want to be a part of it.

We don’t need to win this fight. There isn’t even a need for a fight. We have the ability to simply ignore it or reject it.

Sure, it may be good for appearances to “defeat” a power that’s trying to centralize the blockchain. It would be a nice display of the power of DPoS. But it’s not needed.

A much stronger message can be communicated by simply picking up and moving on; by showing the crypto world that this community can’t be sold or absorbed by any central power; by letting the old chain - the one that’s under attack and on the verge of centralization - to simply rot; by leaving those who think that we can be owned left all by themselves on a dead chain with a worthless token.

This isn’t some pie-in-the-sky hypothetical. It can happen. It very likely will happen soon enough.

It’s up to each of you as individuals if you want to participate in the migration. It’s always your choice. It has always been your choice. Don’t let fear, confusion, uncertainty, or even the ignorance of others get in the way of that choice.

Steem can live on. It may be under a different name, but the name does not define us or what we are capable of achieving.

All of us are the Steem community. We are “Steem” itself.

Wherever we go as a community, Steem goes with us.

I have made up my mind. I know the future that I prefer. It’s not a future with this current version of Steem and the baggage of Steemit Inc. that has plagued this blockchain for four years.

I will be moving on.

Who’s coming with me?


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I agree with many that fighting off an overtake attempt would be a great story for DPOS (which is needed as imo it has many weaknesses)... but also don’t see the point of settling for broken in the process.

The community is what adds value, and the value stays with the community.. where ever they find themselves.

There is something exciting about the idea of doing this right, as a community.. without all the baggage and bad decisions in the past made by a few. I guess we will see what happens.

It would be a great story for Steems DPoS but the fact that this is even occurring reveals a clear security issue with the blockchain. If it works then it would be a legend worth telling.

There goes the neighborhood.

That is how I feel about Steem, and the world at this point too. Can we all just go somewhere else and try this shit again? Just maybe use some of the glaring lessons that we have learned from this mess?

Maybe moving is the only solution to save steem. I don't really know. I don't know if we will win the fight or not, but I'm just keeping it and a lot are doing the same. I think we have nothing to lose anyway, the most important that we stick together. The community matters more of course.

Just five more minutes.

I still think all we need is Hulk Hogan to come here and blog. Then everything will be fine.

How would this be different from previous Golos and Whaleshares forks? Those communities are still operating, but WLS at least has virtually no value. Down considerably from it's initial cost, something like 99%. Who would be the buyers of the new STEEM and what exchanges would be available to buy it on?

Also, for existing dapps, would they be able to run on the forked chain? What would it take for them to migrate?

Lastly, I understand that STINC was running some critical infrastructure beyond witness nodes. I'm not clear what it was, but isn't it still going to be needed? Who will pay for that and maintain it?

Basically, I fully support the idea behind this solution but am unclear about the pragmatism for winding up with a blockchain that is as successful as this one has been. We may destroy our investment at the same time we're removing value from Justin's.

How would this be different from previous Golos and Whaleshares forks?

Timing and the fact that Steem was still operating in an arguably viable state at the time. Now, it's a dead man walking. Plus Golos was launched as an ICO and was explicitly targeted at a narrow market, which makes it quite different. I don't know much about whaleshares although I've heard it had some odd (to me) ideas about how to differentiate.

Practical considerations are important ones, I agree on that.

"How would this be different from previous Golos and Whaleshares forks?"

This would be a much larger migration of devs, stakeholders, and apps running on the chain. It's also not fundamentally changing the code or being run by incompetent people. The resources would be much greater than either of those "forks."

"Who would be the buyers of the new STEEM and what exchanges would be available to buy it on?"

Anyone who wants to buy into the community, I imagine, would be buyers. The token would be available on whatever exchanges list it. The same way Steem started, but this time, having an established community is an advantage.

"Also, for existing dapps, would they be able to run on the forked chain?"

Yes.

"What would it take for them to migrate?"

Pretty much just a name change, if needed.

"I'm not clear what it was, but isn't it still going to be needed? Who will pay for that and maintain it?"

Yes, and it can be funded via witness rewards or the SPS, or even self-funded. Donations could work as well.

I would ask an other question : What will happen to our steem power in the case of such fork ? @ats-david

Your Steem Power would remain as it is. The fork wouldn’t touch the current chain. It would go on as long as there were enough witnesses to run it.

The new chain created by the fork would likely give you the same balance but with a new token instead.

You make some good points. Weku also is a Steem fork, and I think that is performing better than WLS. Nodes and APIs do cost money, and are things Stinc provides currently. There may be more, but I am aware only of the #irredeemables Github which was just a list of accounts Stinc censored on it's front end.

Thanks!

For some reason I can't get to the original post to comment, IDK what the question is

what happened with Weku, basically. It looked like it crapped out to me

Yup... That's pretty much the story I guess, I got off there a couple of months ago. I guess people are still blogging there, but not me. I'm not doing much here until things get sorted out. I'm working doing articles for NewRightNetwork a new news blog. It's a lot like what I hoped Informationwar would turn out to be. I just published my first article yesterday. I'll email it to you on Proton

good lord, I'll actually have to check that email ;>

Well. I've got a new gig writing for Zenith News...

https://zenith.news/fighting-the-political-pandemic/

This much better... more professional! You'll have to keep me informed about Hive (how to get there etc.)

No. Here you go

https://newrightnetwork.com/2020/03/real-effects-of-coronavirus.html/

But I think I'm going to quit them. Zenith News wants me to write for them. I just got off the phone with their publisher and he says he can guarantee me 100k views per article. Akso he was really excited about the one I sent him. He said I'm more knowledgeable than 99% of America. Muh hahaha

Damn. I haven't been a regular there, but I read posts from time to time, the last I thought was only a couple weeks ago. Too bad it died off. What happened?

idk the particulars, check with @richq11

but there was some stench going on

I havent posted there since I went down with the injury last october

Well, at least we're still here.

I too have wondered who would run this infrastructure. especially as the value will probably tank a lot more than it already has. If this is done, it would behoove the new structure to figure a way to comply with regulations in the sense of allowing fiat to crypto buy in/out. This would bypass the exchanges and possibly set an example to the rest of the crypto world that the exchanges aren't necessary.

Golos is also centralized, the 'initiative groups' behind seemingly just any fork prefers to reserve enough funds from itself to be able to 'govern' the fork.

The initial value of the new token would be the same as it is here, the power to vote.

The second value would be the willingness of all of us to exchange it for tangible goods and services.

This protocol/token is an awesome example of the second way to add value (it's not very successful right now?)

https://paywithink.com/

And it powers all the transactions for real goods on :

https://www.listia.com/

Posted using Partiko Android

I don't mind the fork. The only thing I want though is a return of the devs. Without the Steemit, Inc devs that resigned I don't see a future for Steem.

I agree that we can get rid of the Ned problem one last time.

You are saying it is nothing but running a software in the computer. I have few layman questions here. Can you please answer?

From what I understand, Forking out is starting a new chain with the same data with just an exception that steemit's stake will be sent to null in the new chain. If that is the case, will all the current users be available in both the chain?

If I use a web interface and try to login with the wif, I will be taken either inside Steem or the new one based on what node the web interface is using. Is that right? So, after the fork I should technically be able to login to the user accounts in both the chains with same wif right?

This will create a new currency. Probably Steem Classic or something. We have to then identify exchanges to make them list this. Exchanges will then have Steem as well as Steem classic listed. Right?

This act will have a massive impact on both the prices. Steem might fall. Steem Classic might pump etc. But all the current users will have equal stakes in both the Blockchain right?

"If that is the case, will all the current users be available in both the chain?"

Yes.

"If I use a web interface and try to login with the wif, I will be taken either inside Steem or the new one based on what node the web interface is using. Is that right?"

It will be up to interfaces to connect to the right chain and to inform their users which chain they're connecting to. I would assume that some of them will choose one chain or the other and not use both.

"So, after the fork I should technically be able to login to the user accounts in both the chains with same wif right?"

Your keys should not change. They will be retained as part of the fork.

"Exchanges will then have Steem as well as Steem classic listed. Right?"

Possibly. They may choose to list one over the other, both, or neither.

"But all the current users will have equal stakes in both the Blockchain right?"

Theoretically, yes.

Thanks. That's clear 👍

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