Yep, a lot of truth in there. Though, the Top 20 witnesses are primarily being decided by the 2 largest stake holders on here in Freedom and Blocktrades. Those are really the only votes they need to appease... which is part of what is wrong with the whole witness voting system. It should be something like 3-5 votes per account, not 30. Makes no sense unless they want someone with the most stake to control the chain...
RE: Steem - As controversial as the Soft Fork was, it was probably the right move...