Why is it, every time 'we' try to get somewhere, 'we' never even get a chance to get there? Where the hell are 'we' even going? What is this place and why are 'we' here? Why are those goalposts constantly in motion? Should 'we' be catering to those who cannot succeed or embracing those who can?
Mamma mia!
Ay-ay-ay!
So where the hell were we?
The last thing I remember, communities had just been released to the... community.
We barely got a chance to try them out, work out the kinks, see what works, see what doesn't, yadda yadda yadda, and all that other stuff.
Then big bad Justin comes along, morphs into his alter ego known as Bustin, and starts destroying anything that even comes close to resembling a well-thought-out plan.
And by golly he's still over there fuckin' shit up. He's got an entire team whacked out on an adderall and meth cocktail full of hidden surprises writing random ideas onto post-it notes, then commanding a blindfolded untrained chimp to throw a dart at the bulletin board covered in those psychotic ramblings. Whatever that dart hits is what they'll do next.
Yeah. That paragraph was about as dishonest as their recent behavior over on Steem. Oh well. Deal with it!
Moving on
'We' are here now, and that's all that matters.
I'll admit, after hearing the news about how the central authority on Steem will now freeze funds and nuke accounts whenever they feel like it, I had to go see for myself. Got mixed up in the riffraff because I have a low tolerance for bullshit.
Now that I'm back here thinking about that experience, I'm reminded of nearly every time I visit Facebook. I go in feeling fine and leave feeling flustered.
It's not worth it.
So where were we? Communities. Before that we had the EIP. Before that we had years of madness comparable to what is currently happening on Steem. Paid votes, selfishness, abuse, the rest of this long nasty list of bad memories.
If Hive ever frustrates me as much as those dark days on Steem did, I will not be sticking around. That's a promise.
Hive, right now, is what Steem was when Steem finally decided to get its act together. We're picking up where we left off. All that progress still needs time to cure. That's where we were at. Just getting a feel for this old game with a new set of rules.
'We' had acknowledged our mistakes and were eager to move forward by learning from the past.
Yet only two weeks into Hive, I'm already seeing posts published by witnesses suggesting we change everything so this platform suits their interests.
Please, no.
This time, let's all work together.
If the plan is to screw content creators in order to make the place more appealing to a small group of investors, then just tell me right now.
I cannot spend another four years trying to make this work while those with some clout keep moving the goalposts, making it easier for them to earn, and harder for the glaring majority of people who ever took an interest in what we actually do here.
Are there any witnesses here on Hive who actually care about what someone like me has to say?
I've been here since the beginning. I started with nothing and didn't know anyone. I managed to find some measure of success no matter what condition the platform was in. Never took a shortcut. Nearly everything I earned stayed in my account, and I only have one account. The account was once worth nearly a third of a million Canadian dollars. I lost everything. And I'm still here, doing this?
Some of you folks made out great with that Hive airdrop. That's not enough? Move the goalposts a little more now too, since you can?
Do you see all of these people who are excited about this place!
What are they? Majority content creators, curators/consumers, regular folks; a community.
A loud majority.
They were the ones making the noise! They were the ones that tried their best to vote some of you folks to the top to help protect what 'we' believed in! We did not leave that fucking dumpster fire as failures!
We all worked together. And that's what got us here. All of us.
So we should probably continue on down that road to success?
That's why I'm here.
That's what I want and I know I can't do it all myself. I know my role and respect yours, whoever and whatever you are.
I wrote a post recently. In that post I asked some folks to calm down and allow these developers and witnesses to have the floor and share the spotlight. They deserved it. They worked hard to get us here and still do.
I can't say, in nearly four years, I've seen a post from a witness or developer saying, "Let's step aside now and allow these content producers to shine. We have a massive pile of money set aside for development and they have an author reward pool."
It's more like, "We need to change things without ever thinking to ask what the majority of experienced end-users actually want."
Yes. That's not entirely accurate but let's just pretend I've been around for many years and feel safe enough to generalize and maybe exaggerate a few things to help make a valid point.
I know it's still early.
I know it takes time to get organized.
There are little piles of money set aside for everyone now. Curators have access to curation rewards. Authors have access to author rewards. Developers have access to the development fund. Witnesses get paid. Let's make sure we're using these things to their full potential and not stepping on toes when that can be avoided, in the future.
Let's take what we have and try to get things right instead of moving those damn goalposts.
If you can't succeed with all of this grand generosity surrounding you, it's not the damn platform or the rules or the code... it's you.
I say that to myself as well.
There's still plenty of room for innovation; progress. I suggest things be added, not taken away.
For instance: If investors want more options, why not utilize that savings account option that sits idle. Change it so if someone decides to use the savings account, they get a higher interest rate. Contributing through the use of Hive power should still provide more benefits, but if someone doesn't want to contribute, at least they get something. Then this platform can appeal to the crowd that wants something like that, plus nothing major is being subtracted from everyone else. That's not moving the goalposts, it's scoring another goal.
To end this...
I didn't come here to make enemies or piss anyone off.
Everyone here who actually cares brings something important to the table. What got us all here today is the fact everyone did a little bit for themselves and a lot for others.
We're some highly motivated thick-skinned crazy motherfuckers with a new paint job. Shining bright, man, so let's do this right.
Nobody gets left behind.
And if things don't work out for us, it won't be because we failed, it will be because we tried.
Have a nice day.
