I am totally new to Steemit, but in big-ups for it I have heard over and over how there is no censorship here, and yet you relay this info! Hmmmm How do these so-called 'whales' get to censor these posts you claim? Care to elaborate? Do your flag them? How would you know it was 'whales doing that?

As far as I am aware Steemit has only been around a short while?
So how has this hierarchy arisen so quick where there are 'whales' or 'top dogs' with the power to banish?
How did they get their status?

It is very good your asking questions like this because any authoritarian structure will not tolerate questioning, so questioning is a way to reveal just how authoritarian a place, or individual is.