So You Wanna Be Divisive? Bring It.

What follows is a derivative of a comment I made on Steem earlier today. I thought about it, thought about it some more, and decided that I’m just going to post this for everyone to see. Well, not everyone, obviously, because the recent rash of unfollows I’ve had by people associated with a certain community on Discord will hide this from their view. Unless, of course, it trends, or lots of people resteem it. Be my guest. Please.

I’m not going to name names in this post. No names at all. Most people will know instantly who I mean. If you don’t, it won’t take much digging to find out. But I want this to be as far from mudslinging as possible, even though that expectation isn’t very realistic. I’m not looking to start a war. Thing is, though—I didn’t, and I won’t, because you can’t start what’s already happening. This war has been simmering in the trenches for months, despite the attempts of many people to circumvent it.

I stand by my choice for witness team alignment, despite the controversy associated with it. I kept waiting to for those who warned me about a certain witness partner to be proven right, and him to be proven base of character the way they claimed. As time went on, the inverse became true based on behaviors I saw with my own eyes. Let’s just call this witness partner “X.” That will suffice for now.

People can "claim" anything they want. For my own personal knowledge, I asked the person who claims “X” owes him money if he would offer proof. He didn't just fail to do so, he flat-out refused. Publicly, in front of many witnesses. Yet the money is still an issue? How? For me, the fact that “X” needed money to care for two animals he committed to says more about his character than that of any self-righteous accuser. It demonstrates loyalty and a clear understanding of ethical responsibility. If the money was a gift, as “X” maintains, what repayment is owed? If not a gift, as the other guy claims, then why be so cagey about offering proof? There’s no logic in his decision to withhold evidence that substantiates his case.

Then we get back to the moral code of the people in question. First, none of the people involved with my witness team or Discord community ever engaged in divisive conduct. We included everyone in everything. Shared members, shared moderators. Shared witness support. No one can argue that “X” says things in the most diplomatic manner, because clearly he doesn't. But I've yet to see him be proven wrong about any points he's made. Others, however...wow. The behaviors! Licentious remarks in public forums. The creation of an entire Steem account to mock an accidental misspelling of “X’s”name that was downright vulgar. Is there no sense of shame with these people? What about publicly ridiculing a person's appearance after they took chemotherapy and years of immunosuppressants? Yet somehow all of this is okay? But wait--the best (or worst, depending on which camp a person is in,) is the blatant edict by a community leader for his entire drone army to disassociate from “X” and any initiatives he's part of. This edict came with the express threat of removing delegations and all support from anyone who affiliates with "X." And the whole drone army concurred that this was acceptable. And yet, this is okay?

Talk about centralized! It's the antithesis of everything the blockchain is supposed to represent. Bottom line is that no one associated with “X” ever, at any time, forbade anyone else from affiliating with "those other folks," participating in their servers, voting their witness, or following their blogs. We encouraged cross-promotion and teamwork. Then suddenly there it is, in writing, that the leader of the largest community on Discord has forbidden "his people" from association with “X” or his team witness. What the absolute hell, people? HOW is ANY of this not a thousand times worse than any lip “X” ever gave anyone? Yet they get a free pass for this egregious and downright insidious behavior?

Not from me, they don't. Never have I been more pleased about where I chose to place my alliance. I'll take smartass lip over corrupt character any day. I didn’t need anyone whispering crap in my ear or outright threatening me to decide where to place my loyalty. All I had to do was sit back and watch a certain subculture of the Steem community gnaw and gnaw at this bone until finally they broke it in half and divided a year’s worth of friendships and partnerships right down the fucking middle. Congratulations for that accomplishment, folks! You did your drone army proud.

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