There’s been some argument about how the philosophy of voluntaryism translates to the blockchain. In this kerfuffle, three styles of voluntaryism are being discussed and those are listed in the title of the article. I coined the first two terms spiritual and standard voluntaryism with the blockchain in mind, they are defined below.
- Spiritual Voluntaryism – People who generally do not downvote [/FULLSTOP].
- Standard Voluntaryism – People who generally do not downvote with the exception of proportional self-defense or cases of abusive scams, fraud, plagiarism, NSFW content, and spam as defined here with a high emphasiss on "large number of places."
- Principled Voluntaryism – People who plunder rewards and censor comments because of ideological disagreements or personal bias. People who believe the comment section on their blog belongs exclusively to them.
My thoughts on Smith's "principled voluntaryism" is that it doesn't at all jibe with the spirit of voluntaryism. Self-proclaimed voluntaryists would not want to steal from or censor people, it's simple. It has nothing to do with religion or Graham's dreaded Sunday school experiences. Also, you cannot own the comment section of your blog any more than you can own the sidewalk outside your house, for it is a public commons open to public comments.
Additional notes on spiritual voluntaryism: I created this as an equal and opposite reaction to Graham's offensive and (un)principled voluntaryism, it had to be done.
Additional notes on standard voluntaryism: I created this as a more realistic middle-ground between spiritual voluntaryism and addressing issues on the blockchain that are largely undisputed. I would suggest that at least 80% of people on steem do not take issue with flagging for abusive scams, fraud, plagiarism, NSFW content, or for the purpose of proportional self-defense. Yet, many in that group will not censor non-spam content or rape people's rewards. I call people who fit that criteria standard voluntaryists, if you resonate with the term and want to be one, well then do it, be the thing.
Even as a spiritual voluntaryist I have no qualms about how standard voluntaryists behave other than they might get it wrong and misjudge someone which will only lead to conflict and discord. Again this has nothing to do with Religion, Sunday School, or Catholicism. It has everything to do with acting right. Pick either or, whichever resonates with you spiritual or standard and re-brand it to Zen and the art of not being a douche bag/asshole on the blockchain.
Call it whatever you want Graham but know this: if you will go around trolling people and mischaracterizing them to your audience or being an overall jerk then you will receive the equal and opposite reaction that accompanies that behavior. This is why I've been occupying your mind for the last three podcasts. This is why you can't shake me, it's because you're on the karmic receiving end and cannot deal with the fruit your troll-like behavior is generating.
You can dish it out, talk a good game, and lie about me as much as you damn well please. Yet, the moment I return the favor, then you're the victim and whoa is thee? Maybe you're able to gaslight some of your audience but you can't fool all of them all the time and I think people are seeing through the charade. Hell, I think it's great you're defending 
For you to have tagged me in one of the titles of your posts only to "warn" your 8,000 followers about me and then flag me when I came over to defend myself was a new Scumbag Steve low that I rarely witness in this relatively peaceful steem community where for the most part people are respectful to one another. Congratulations, you're a great provocateur and know how to bring the worst out in people. I'm not proud that you were able to goad me, but if you didn't think that I wouldn't behave in kind, you've got another thing coming.
Also, I think in large part that your initiative VJ is a virtual donation jar that you use when you're masquerading it as a charity, you don't claim it's a charity but you create a strong impression that it is. Many parents of children will volunteer to chaperone at a school dance or accompany their kid on field trips that their schools have. I'm guessing that very few of them use this as a tool in order to subtly convey the idea that they're a charity.
I think it's great that your doing a podcast and advocating voluntarism when you're not butchering the concept entirely as far as it applies to the blockchain. I also think it's very well and good that you volunteer at your kid's school once a month and take an interest in the youngster's education. Was that part of the free school arrangement? I'd do the legwork on that and call over to Japan and try to find out... but honestly, I don't want to get up in your business like that.
Let's just say I have my suspicions that a large part of your volunteering in that "free school" is a condition of it being free-of-charge for your child to attend, maybe I'm wrong? I guess what I don't get is why you keep patting yourself on the back for doing right by your kid and speaking out in favor of an ideology that you seem to be passionate about? I mean don't get me wrong those are laudable traits but is it really a movement or is it an army of one that's happening over there?
Wouldn't it be more honest if you said: Do you like my work? If so, please consider donating to me so that I can continue to put food on my family and travel to meet people for the purpose of discussing cryptocurrencies and voluntaryism. I really doubt that that type of radical honesty would put a dent in your donations.
Graham if you still believe that the comment section is private property then let me invite you into this thread's comments so that you can defend your position on voluntary japan and or principled voluntaryism. The forum is here, the debate is here, the battle lines have been drawn and will occur in the comment section below if you will choose to step into the ring, or you can PAB out. The rules are simple, be a dick and I'll be dick right back.
Or if you want to have a respectful conversation in the comments, we can do that too. I appreciate the invitation to go on your show but I don't do podcasts, not even on the platforms with people whose company I enjoy. This bonus rant was in response to
The image above is brought to you courtesy of Pixabay!