RE: The world is at war, Steemit the microcosm is reflecting the macrocosm
@wwf it seems as though you've put a lot of time and effort into this post explaining your views on peace for the situation. You are however totally missing key aspects of the situation.
It's not really about pressing mute and ignoring a Steemian who has ovibously built a team to take, take, take from the other users. Turning a blind eye here would not be the correct method. I understand you are one for peace but you have given no solution other then ignoring. 6% of the reward pool to one user every week will escalate to 7% then so on.
This is not a matter or jealousy, greed or any other accusations made by the trolls. Should we turn a blind eye if there were 17 accounts doing the same thing because it's there money and they can do what they want? That would be 100% of the reward pool to 17 users.
I think the problem with your post is the fact that you are comparing yourself and what type of person you are to the situation. Meaning; if you were poster A or whale B. However Poster A and Whale B are not you and there intentions for peace and having a long term successful blockchain are non existent.
I have yet to find a whale similar to Whale B. I've looked and I can't find another Whale who only upvotes one Steemian and no others.
I strongly disagree with your views on this matter and feel perhaps you are misunderstanding the harm to the community. You are an excellent writer and a superb teacher. Your knowledge on off grid living and homesteading is comparable to nothing I've see before. However your knowledge of the blockchain, cryptocurrencies and Steemit is not all that great.
These users will end this platform if this continues and muting the users well they drain the reward pool is not something that a lot of Steemians will stand for. Investments are at stake here. Some people's lively hoods are at stake here. Some people's evening entertainment is at stake here.
One does not simply turn a blind eye to reward pool abuse!
@taskmaster4450 and I were discussing earlier, that if people voted for meaningful content with the full weight that the flagging war has thrown around, the weight of those votes could have potentially diminish the 6% take of the pool down to 4% or even 2%. The issue with a 6-7% take on the pool is associated with a small pool and very large whales. However, how can somebody be taking from others when the whole entire pool is not even claimed each day? There is lots of left over steem waiting to be claimed that gets distributed to vest holders on a daily basis because there is not enough upvoting taking place. I see it all the time with my steem power slowly creeping up minute by minute. It is like accusing me of taking 3 cookies instead of 1 when there is still 20 cookies left over and everyone who wanted a cookie got one! How did I take a cookie from somebody else when there is still left overs and nobody wants any more?
However, when 5 million users get onto Steemit, getting a 6% take on the pool will be nearly impossible to accomplish due to the mere size of the ecology in the pool. This is an anomaly due to small ecology size which would be fixed when the platform becomes more popular. This is not the first time this has been an issue and most likely won't be the last either. By supporting the minnows with our votes, we can increase the pool and make it even more difficult for people to take such a large percentage. We are swimming in a pond and by supporting new users and increasing their steem power, we can turn that pond into an ocean. Right now a whale in a pond can cause all kinds of problems, but when we get a whale in an ocean, an equilibrium can be found and these anomalies will disappear. An ocean provides all kinds of room for all kinds of users. Ponds are very crowded and disruptive. It is our duty to turn the system into an ocean so that we can remedy the issue. We do that by upvoting and supporting, not downvoting and attacking.
However, your assessment of my knowledge and skill (whether founded or not) still does not take away from the fact that resorting to violence to protect the pond is not a viable option. If we have to resort to violence to protect the pond then we are no better than those who are engaged in violence to drain it. We will NEVER get rid of greed and I'm not saying turn a blind eye to it either. I will be front in line to rebuke greed, but I will do so peacefully. What I am saying is that we can address these issues in a peaceful way and that the war itself could destroy that which it was meant to protect.
You are entitled to your opinion @hendrix22. I respect your right to share it and express it. However, I disagree with it! The pool is not being abused, people are being abused and the abuse must stop. We cannot force our ethical and moral standards on others. We lead by example, not by force and coercion. I will agree with you on one point, peoples livelihood is on the line here and through my work I pray that one day that will not be the case as we should all be dependent on Mother Earth, not some fictional construct we created.
I am here to make that point. The spiritual implications must be addressed throughout all of this and peace, freedom, prosperity and love are all critical components to that process, whether it is here on Steemit or in the real world. If self-governance is not allowed to shake itself out and we resort to violence and coercion, then I fear this won't go anywhere.
However, I still must stand behind WhaleB's free will to 'give' who whom ever he wants. It is his to do with as he pleases. If you fear the pool being drained, then perhaps this post may enlighten you as to how the pool works and the fact that the price of steem is sitting over $8 right now, should help demonstrate that it will become more and more difficult over time for one individual to take a huge percentage of the pool take each day.
https://steemit.com/steemit/@dragosroua/why-there-is-no-such-thing-as-draining-the-reward-pool
Great point about the size of the site(number of users) factoring into the percentage of reward pool being taken. Also, fascinating about the leftover reward pool going to those vested, I didn't know about this, but it makes sense. I didn't really understand the importance of using up voting power for the day to give people value before charging it up again. Think I lost a solid delegation for that mistake, so learned the hard way to use my vote wisely and actually USE my vote. Now I vote too much :)
Thanks for putting so much into your responses on comments, it increases the quality of this post. If I had more upvote atm I'd be spending some here
It is critical that we utilize our voting power. A million minnows can easily out vote a whale! The power always rests in the people and a single individual will always be swamped by that power if he / she tries to stand in its way, especially when it becomes consciously aware of what is going on. The powers that be are feeling that as well. I'm not concerned about a single individual. I'm concerned about the violence that has spread as a result of peoples reactions to that one individual.
That's a good point, you put me in mind again of the real world. We complain that the top miniscule percentage has the lion's share of the wealth while the majority go without and yet we are the majority. If we all turn around and say we're not supporting the behaviour that allows the wealth to flood one way, then it would flow in other directions.
I have to agree with @wwf here. The biggest problem isn't people abusing the rewards pool but users not voting. There were studies done years ago where someone walking with a dollar drops it. What they found is that 98% of the time people did the right thing and brought that dollar back to its owner.
We don't need to focus our attention on the few who "abuse" the rewards pool. We need to focus on the majority who don't. Focus on what you want, not on what you don't want, lest you make what you don't want a reality.