Thanks :)
I can't address any of the philosophical questions of freedom or human nature, but in terms of open source projects I've seen splits in a community happen. Inevitably, if enough people believe the project is worthwhile to continue working on, someone will grab the reins and start something better.
I hope it doesn't come to that point with Steem, but if it does I'm sure you and others here will adopt it and build it into something bigger and better.