I am not happy you're leaving. I fear you'll discover Blurt has it's own issues, because I have.
"...why a downvote-enabled platform will inevitably end up in centralized..."
This is only true if it's either all or nothing. There are a plethora of limitations that can be applied to DV's that will mitigate their impact. The reason none of them are deployed is because the oligarchy wants the platform to be controlled by them. What we see as a bug, they see as a feature. It is their control of governance of Hive, maintained through their possession of the bare majority of stake, that enables them to choose the code the witnesses run, and that code enables them to maintain a majority of stake. By this means they attain to the vast majority of inflation, and that income is their primary interest in Hive.
However, the oligarchy will eventually lose interest, sell, or die, and then new users will wield that stake. Every day there is potential for everything to change, and eventually there is a 100% certainty that it will. When other values than financial that society accords more valuable than mere money are factors in governance, that will change things for the better. When DV's are only allowed in limited circumstances to counter plagiarism, that will be a change for the better. Antisocialist likes to point out that we can make those changes at any time we want by buying enough stake to gain control of governance, just as Sun Yuchen did.
"...the corrosive force of coordinated character assassination and flagging avalanches of a cartel with obviously bad intentions. The tribe disbanded and only a few remain on here.
"There is a police force on this platform pretending to do good for Hive when all they really achieve is alienating people and making promising minds leave the platform."
These are undertaken for the very reason that the oligarchy must maintain a majority of stake to maintain control of governance in a pure plutocracy. Sun proved that a relatively minor financial player can not only buy bananas for $6M, but buy control of the platform as well. Oppressing new users, up and coming communities, and driving away influencers prevents Hive from growing, and Hive would grow otherwise. Were Hive to be growing it would become an attractive target for stake looking for ROI, and the biggest fish in the little pond of Hive are minnows to the sharks out there. Preventing Hive from growing prevents outside capital from taking an interest in the platform that could dislodge the oligarchy. They cannot just not sell their tokens to prevent such an event, because that would eliminate Hive's utility to them as income, so their best weapon against outside capital taking over Hive governance is preventing it from growing. This also has the benefit of preventing wider distribution of stake, and this makes maintaining a bare majority of political power to govern Hive facile.
The draining of the DHF caused me concern because sucking cash on hand out of the investment vehicles Bain Capital Partners and Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts target is what they do just before they jump ship. Sucking the cash on hand out of Hive signals the oligarchy is prepared to abandon the platform. The blatant theft by fraud by which that was being done showed how little concern the oligarchs have for the Hive community, and how little they feared law enforcement, and even politically charged accusations of funding terrorism - which funneling money into Venezuela is easy to arouse. This indicates to me that the oligarchy is connected to spooks, because that is the only way they could be immune to such politically directed law enforcement.
Given the blockchain, Hive is a very useful evidence storage mechanism, where old posts can be dredged up to support criminal charges, as we see driving cancel culture as well.
However, all this being said, Hive with some minor tweaking to governance and DV limitations is able to provide governance services IRL. An HOA could use Hive to discuss their neighborhood issues, vote on them, and fund them at the same time. Further, Hive can support pure voluntarist governance, where only those voting for something are tapped to fund it. Hive as governance technology has barely been explored, and has incredible potential. The witness voting mechanism enables liquid democracy, where people can change their minds and withdraw funding from a candidate, bureaucracy, or policy at a moment's notice.
Being a clone of Hive, Blurt should also have the capabilities - but, as I said, Blurt has it's own problems, which are why I'm not posting on Blurt.
"It is always a fine line between diplomatic laying out of what I found vs. frantic spewing of words that could be misinterpreted as harmful to someone."
As you know, frantically spitting truths regardless of consequences isn't a potentially successful political strategy, and being politic and tactful - demonstrably a form of self-censorship - is necessary to civil society. Libel isn't hurting feelings, and we are all prone to misstatements, misunderstanding, and being misled about things that can cause us to make false allegations. Even if only for these reasons, we should be circumspect about what we say, and particularly folks like you and I that make claims of malfeasance of authorities. We also need to be prepared to admit we are wrong when presented proof, and to withdraw claims we have made that were false. We should even be willing to apologize when we err.
That can sometimes not be enough to repair damage to people we have caused, so it is better to be circumspect and only state definitively what can be proven factually, to avoid compensating those we have injured when we are misinformed and pass that misinformation on. We should under-promise and over-deliver. That is the cost of seeking to influence civil society, and isn't malicious censorship. We need to differentiate between speaking tactfully and being censored, because the former is good and the latter is bad.
"...a black list of automatic downvotes until my account is hidden from view, and all my comments."
That is censorship, and is beyond the pale of tolerability on Hive, but it happens every day, and it is happening now.
"...Blurt - where such a downvote function and self-professed opinion police force does not exist."
It exists in a different form on Blurt. Don't be fooled, I beseech you.
"Most of them are now on Blurt and speak their mind freely."
This is not true, and a moment's reflection will reveal that fact to you. Blurt doesn't even have as many users as have been driven from Steem and Hive by HW's. Most of those folks have gone back to X and Tubeyou, from whence they came, particularly them with substantial audiences that can monetize their content on Web2, after they discovered they couldn't monetize it on Web3.
"I am working on something big."
I hope it's as disruptive as you anticipate. At least that would flag you off the platform instead of rage-quitting. I look forward to reading it.
"I want a place to post my content that is TRULY censorship-resistant..."
Me too. So far only speaking in person has that attribute.
Keep me posted on how things are going as they develop.
Thanks!
as always I appreciate the depth of your analysis. i am curious what sort of thing you dislike on blurt, especially your eluding to how that downvoting and thought police exists in different form there? seems i have yet to stumble on that.
i have only been there 2 weeks now so that is entirely possible though ;)
i also value your points on democracy, it is why i always saw so much potential in hive. makes me think building a new network that learns from all these things is a good idea but i cannot code nor do i feel particularly able to come up with the most advanced system of governance in the current age of human history. ahahaha.
are you saying we need to take it all living in constant fear of being flagged to oblivion like so many on this platform have gone through, and eventually somehow overpower the bad actors by powering up more? if a dancefloor is shitty i just wihdraw my energy, i dont try to argue with the dj or overtake it or something. maybe the analogy sucks, but i keep being i spired seeing how much you do on hive considering all your well thought-out and laid-out criticisms. i am also amazed the cartel has allowed you to stay.
it's not so much a rage quit as it is a way to act according to what i perceive and what i feel is right. as i said i will keep posting on hive, but i will no longer set buy orders or tell others to invest their time and energy here. that ship has sailed.
did you write about your blurt experiences somewhere? your blurt blog seems empty, maybe i can find something using the search function. i am super curious
well, blessings to you, and thanks again for your thoughts. i shall think on it
It is empty. I have elsewhere discussed the issues with the principals of Blurt that have enabled it to exist through dint of their hard work and investment. My observations during those conversations are derived from their comments, and repeating my understanding here would make my comments hearsay, which isn't a sound basis for analysis - and I would have no evidence to present other than the confirmation of them I would be maligning, which I will not expect.
I will only state that just as the opinion of one person, Sun Yuchen, controls all the witnesses, and therefore the code Steem runs that controls everything on that platform, Blurt has been utterly the possession of a scant handful of investors that have been able to do anything a consensus of witnesses could do, completely controlling the code and everything it does on Blurt. In such circumstance every word is spoken by their leave. On Hive this requires ~17 witnesses to achieve, and as we observe they are able to manage to agree to finely control whom is rewarded and what for, so that management is even simpler on Blurt, as, unless Sun is a schizophrenic, is unilaterally managed on Steem.
I am in constant danger, IRL. We all are. Having once lived through the destruction of everything I held dear and coming out the back end, I am not as impressed by my fear as I once was. I have had to chase down an ambulance on foot and beat on the sides until they let me in while I was having a heart attack, which demonstrated to me my survival IRL, and on Hive, is a gift, not my achievement. In discussion with HW principals I have detailed my understanding, as I have here, as tactfully as possible, obviously, but neither dissembling. I don't know why they select the particular targets they do and not others. I'm not privy to their councils. I suspect my immunity to financial fear set a bad example when BernieSanders flagged me for a few months (rather, that provided me a bully pulpit that brought attention to the issue), and after that account went dormant repeating that example hasn't been desirable. Indeed, I hope I have provided perspective on the value of Hive that enables better understanding to all concerned, and Hive's potential to fundamentally empower sovereignty far more profitable to profiteers than mere money. I know their understanding rests on fundamental principles difficult to surpass. Cash is king. But freedom makes kings of us all, and this is more valuable than obeisance to any king could be.
I am presently clearing land for siting a lab that I intend to use to demonstrate how creating real wealth instead of money will prove vastly more valuable, and I always hope reason will overcome habit, understanding prove superior to dogma. I intend to demonstrate the power of sovereigns to wield cutting edge means of production to render dependence on centralization a profligate expense that profiteers intent on their own wealth would be stupid to continue to waste their fortunes on. Hive managed in order facilitate such civil society will be far more benefit to those with the most to lose by it's reduction to an AI driven token accumulation game. Oligarchs are people and have superior values to money, just as much as the rest of us, only psychopaths incapable of functional socialization cannot appreciate.
A lot of people have made similar posts, and this created the rage quitting meme, which is a cheap shot all too easy to throw around. People don't generally rage for no reason, anger being the child of fear, and everyone that did had similar cause. I see that your susceptibility to such fear is reduced by your deep understanding of the underlying forces that have affected civilization from of old, and I will be pleased to be availed of your future posts regarding your superlative research and discussion of these matters.
same man, you always have been one of the most interesting minds to read on hive for me and i will leave my take on what i see in the world on hive for as long as i see worth doing so.
the moment the internet goes dead, everybody will suddenly realize that the practical and immediate far outweighs anything we do here.
but then i maybe expect too much a major disruptive event before crypto takes off as the new norm. it is a gamble but trading in all forms of cryptocurrency always is. the real market tremors are yet to start i feel and the new system the gang would like will not come without the old shattered beyond recognition.
but what do i know?!
thanks man
Dude come down to earth and listen to what you're saying... do you expect everyone to wait until the old fart dies or loses interest? :D Why Bill Gates hasn't lost interest yet? And Klaus Schwab's successor is an even bigger murderer and lunatic - a guy who has drained thousands of springs, ruining people's lives and who thinks that water is not due to everyone on this planet.
And what if we must wait like 20 years until Marky "maybe" loses interest or die? Everything with having this "hope" that the local "Klaus Shwab" will be replaced by someone less crazy?
This is stupid and Crazy XD Freedom of speech is needed now because for 20 years can be a situation where there is no opportunity to any of us to build something that will be a alternative. Why? because there wil be no space for that.
"Blurt also has its problems" yes... Blurt's biggest problem is people who prefer to stick to known shit and trying to reanimate it when it dies, rather than trying something new. Haven't published a single post on blurt. All you did was chat a bit on the matrix chat. But according to you, that's enough to be critical of it and to propagate your theories and trying convince people that is reasonable to wait God only know, how long to "change" on platform who proof that there is no space for change :P
Why the fuck wait when there's Blurt? That's the right question!
I see by the reference to the chats we have had on Matrix that you are one of the people that have dedicated hard work and investment to enable Blurt to exist. I do not at all denigrate or deprecate that worthy cause. However, I do refute your mischaracterization of Blurt and myself, which I suppose I demonstrate are inaccurate by my comment above, provided before I saw this.
Blurt is no less dependent on the leave of the owners of the physical structure of the internet than any communications. I do not expect that physical infrastructure to be extant, certainly not available to plebs, in 20 years. For free speech to be available to sovereigns, we will have to provide the infrastructure ourselves we opine and take each others' counsel on. All transactions, communications, and information today depends on the permission of BlackRock, which possesses a controlling interest in ~90% of stock corporations in the world, including those that own the satellites, radio stations, and cables on which our communications are dependent. DV's are a trivial distraction from our exigency, and I am not distracted.
I am not waiting for that network we own to be developed, but am taking advantage of that leave we are granted today to demonstrate with my shovel and feet in real dirt, on the actual Earth, our ability to ourselves produce the blessings of civilization far more profitably than remaining dependent on overlords. I hope you grasp your exigency and act to secure what you have built with your hard work and investment before it is taken from you by those to whom such is a trivial facility. I am not your enemy, and criticism is not harm to anyone intent on reality, who will learn from criticism to abandon misunderstanding and gain a clearer view.
I fully desire your prosperity, but you will fall if you do not secure your investment by yourself producing it's necessary foundation, and that will stand on actual dirt, on the actual Earth, and not code running on someone else's network. Take your own advice and come down to Earth, my friend.
Edit:
I am not waiting for anything. I intend to demonstrate to Marky, and all people invested in anything dependent on communications (which is everything that can be invested in), that he values things far more than he does money and amongst those values is free speech. Here's the last thing he said to me, just a few days ago:
We will better succeed if we hang together, and if we don't we will all surely hang separately, to mangle Ben Franklin's astute aphorism.
Of course, all of this is controlled in the way you say, but why?
The answer is simple. Because wealth is centralized in the hands of a few and most cannot afford to think about anything other than survival, and those few richer ones who do not belong to the cabal are usually "downvoted" in this physical and tangible way, i.e. if you dare to say that covid is a hoax, contracts for your company are suddenly terminated, you are presented in the media as a madman or your affairs or other sins suddenly come to light. Ultimately, the final downvote is an "accident" or "unknown perpetrator". Independent media, on the other hand, do not exist or are niche because there is NO money. There are few independent companies with which you can cooperate.
And now answer the question: what is the difference between hive? Well, nothing. Here too, value is centralized and the opposition is "downvoted" or deprived of funds. In other words, only those who fit the clique can get rich. And so an independent journalist who writes the truth will write it for free on hive and only as long as they don't hide his account. When a journalist who writes in accordance with the main narrative earns quite a lot here, in time he will buy better recording equipment, invest in advertising, promote himself and gather an even larger group of followers on whom he will be able to project the "only correct" worldview of Blackrock.
So the war against downvotes is not just some niche thing. It's to be or not to be for hundreds of independent writers who, for example, from now on on blurt can start monetizing their work in any way, which is not only motivating but also gives prospects for development.
When on hive, just like everywhere else, there is no chance for them. So by buying Blurts on the stock exchange NOW you support a situation where money goes to people fighting to reverse this trend of 90% of capital. When you are on hive, you spin your rhetoric but the money flows just as it flowed for a narrow clique that likes control, power and censorship.
By supporting posts of people who are fighting for real decentralization, for example, you contribute to the fact that journalism can be maintained, when by investing in blurt you make the token price increase, witnesses will be able to invest in their own equipment and independent servers or develop independent infrastructure. On hive, even if you support, nothing will come of it because the posts will be demonetized and the people who are in power clearly approve of centralization.
To sum up, while still on hive, you are wasting your time and your investments are working to support tyranny.
Adding to that... This whole web 3 concept is not just about censorship, it's about the flow of money and consciousness. Even if someone turns around and Blackrock pulls the plug, for example, the money that has so far flowed to independent people thanks to blockchain, can help build a lot of good things until then, e.g. independent farms, land purchases, equipment or other things.
And in turn, independent journalists can instill awareness in thousands of minds that even unplugging blackrock won't erase :P