It is hard to start a post like this without taking a look at the current alarming situation the Steem blockchain has found itself in. At this point its like playing an old record on repeat when talking about the current problems, but for the sake of my argument its important to at least acknowledge them. Even 
So what exactly are the problems we are facing now?
The trending page and bots have to be the first thing i talk about. Although i see value in the service bots provide, the underlying fact is, people will almost always overvalue their own content which in turn renders the trending page meaningless. This all stems from bot delegators giving their SP to bot owners without a care in the world of where exactly their upvote will go.
The Steem blockchain has turned into somewhat of a showcase of how some people are willing and more then happy to destroy themselves if it means just a bit more gains in the short run. Dont quote me on this, but ive read somewhere that almost 50% of all SP is delegated to bots. (ill adjust this is someone finds the correct numbers)
What happens if that percentage goes even further?
The trending page was supposed to be a showcase of the value and quality that is created on Steem. And in that aspect it hasnt been very succesful.
When your store front looks uninteresting, unappealing, the costumers wont come in, no matter what gems you might have hidden inside.
"Enlightened self interest"? What exactly is that?
Its a philosophy in ethics that states that an individual, by acting in the interest of the community, a group, or society in general, acts in its own interest.
The complete opposite of that would be the concept of "unenlightened self-interest" , in which it is argued that when most or all persons act according to their own myopic selfishness, the group suffers loss as a result of conflict, decreased efficiency and productivity because of lack of cooperation, and the increased expense each individual pays for the protection of their own interests._
I think its very easy to pinpoint those that act in either of those ways. I also think that an agreement does exist across the board that this continued way of acting will lead Steem to fall even further down the latter of the Crypto market cap regardless of the superior technology it offers in comparison to others.
Regardless of the tech, people will always look first at the goals that were set for Steem and if those goals have been fulfilled successfully.
When talking about these issue Steem users often tend to shift blame from themselves towards others and even those created the platform. That is extremely unhelpful. I have had a few conversations with other users, most recently when i uploaded my Curie promotion post, and i have noticed that users have no problem washing their hands from any responsibility when participating in actions that have a direct negative effect on the platform.
What is always set aside is that Ned and Dan didnt fail us, we failed us.
Their biggest failure is in trusting the community to act in the interests of everyone involved setting aside the self absorbing greed.
There are things of course that need fixing, but Neds response with SMTs (1account-1vote) is not a correction that stems from some kind of mistake in the platform design, but rather a correction because of the flaws in human character.
With SMTS, its basically Ned saving us from ourselves.
I have watched a movie called: "Big short" a few days ago. Most of you have heard about it, but what amazed me most is the clear connection between Wall Street behavior and the behavior of some large stake holders on this platform.
Just like the actions of banks and unscrupulous parasites that created OCD bonds that lead to millions of people losing homes and jobs; actions of some people here might lead to a bust of a similar result in the steem ecosystem. And there wont be anyone to bail us out.
Enlightened self-interest also has implications for long-term benefits as opposed to short-term benefits to oneself. When an individual pursues enlightened self-interest that person may sacrifice short-term interests to maximize long-term interests.
This is more then clear in the case of Steem. By following the positive ideals, by acting ethically and altruistically you are contributing to the growth of this platform. You are contributing to the market value of Steem, you are contributing positively towards the increase in Steems reputation in the crypto world.. All of this in the long run leads to you, yourself benefiting.
There is a tremendous impact generally held views have on value of Steem (shown in the fact that Steem has dropped more then 15 places in market cap)
"Steem is a platform where large stake holders upvote themselves and mediocre content is rewarded"... and the view: "Steem is a platform where the highest of quality content is rewarded and large stake holders act as leaders that uplift the community"... lead to two different outcomes.
The actions of some of the large stake holders here is pure self-destructive behavior.
The analogy i can think of is: Its like burning down your house so you can be warm for a night.
Its very hard for me to understand why exactly its so hard for some to make that shift in approach when its rather clear what the current behavior leads to.
Guys... Dont let everything fall apart. Steem can only be as great as we let it to be.
Anyways. Ive written this post for another purpose besides growling at everything. Hehe.
Openmic is having a bit of trouble, 
I have participated in the competition more times then i can count, won more then 250 STEEM so far and gained many followers and friends from participating in the competition. So i feel i can at least give back a little.
To go back to the core topic of the post. Yes i believe that by supporting amazing community projects like this one, we will all be better off.
The whole payout from this post will be donated towards the reward pool
so i will do something i havent done before and "Gina" a number of witnesses and large stake holders that so far i have seen stand up for the values i tried talking about here.Maybe some even help support openmic in the longer term.
I know i probably missed a number of large stake holders, but these are the guys, i personally, noticed contributing the most to the community so far.
Want to help even more? More information on this link
Anyways... Thx for reading my rant. I hope this manages to help
See everyone soon and....
🌟Keep on Steeming!🌟
