Let's go through a little recap of some major events that have helped shape what we (don't) see today:

Way back in the start it was “the rigged block producing” game, many don’t know anything or much about it, but as many describe it ‘Dam Larimer rigged the game by not making it a fair and equal playing field….’
So not to go into too much detail, it started off with a “BANG” (a shot to the foot).
Then as things started changing and Dan was not on the Steem scene, we saw EOS pop up, after which numerous then top20 witnesses (some still today) run over to EOS and spend endless hours of hard work to help build EOS, while Steem was promoting Smart Media Tokens “SMTs” which were promised by the end of 2017, then again in 2018 and here we are today, with SMTs on the list of things that are coming in 2020.
Unfortunately, we saw “money talks” in action and yes, no matter what anyone says, I stand to be corrected:
“If the same amount of hours put into EOS in 2017 and 2018 by those top20 Steem witnesses were to have been invested in making Steem great and not into making EOS great, many things here on Steem would be different!”

Then let’s go back to the event that shook the world and brought about changes that are still rocking our scene today.
As was perfectly described by a fellow Steemian during a discussion on the topic;
“…they held a gun to his head, it didn’t have bullets in it, it was unloaded, but I see your point, armed robbery is armed robbery, no matter if the gun is loaded or not, the fear is there as the victim doesn’t know if the gun s loaded or not…..”

Although this was more so a case of something that in the real world might not be “robbery”, but it sure did get people doing things that were not in the plans. We saw all sorts of weird and wonderful changes occur, from forks named “sidechains” to some totally new people getting positions and who were never a part of the private company at question, to Ned Scott, kinda not being seen or heard of again.

Makes one think, doesn’t it!

Since then, we have seen other great and miraculous things happen, such as a flip on the support for services that put a constant demand on Steem. Yes there was damn good reasons for it. Yes, I am talking about “bid bots” (as most referred to them).
The irony is that many of those now against bid bots, were those running them. The same people who refused to burn the SBD when converting to Steem (via the exchange option in our Steem code), so as to not put so much pressure on the ecosystem in which the quantity of SBD is reduced and the backing of it with Steem can be ensured (as per our economy).
All about the same time when some stake holders maybe put an ultimatum out to these decision makers, not necessarily the same as the “unloaded gun” scenario, this time, it was definitely loaded. However, with that came “the crab bucket” portion of our Steem Whitepaper. Yes, it came into full force.
Instead of spreading the wealth, we saw the exact opposite.
Which we are seeing abused today in full force by so many, since the introduction of “FREE downvotes”.
Now some may disagree, that is fine, all the power to you, ‘everyone has an opinion’ as the old saying goes. Yet, I am not expressing an ‘opinion’ above, I am merely recalling on factual events that are now historical, “can’t change the past’ as I often say!

So, the point to this is where I finish of this little saying about “the past”.

“Yesterday is in the past, can’t change the past, it is what I do today that can make a difference.”

Looking back, I see many things that still need addressing, all sorts of things, from the further decentralization of the governance, to include (but definitely not limited to) a higher participative nature of decision making processes, to ensuring that once people physically die that their witness votes are nulled, all the way to changing that damn ‘crabs in a bucket’ mentality.
Likewise, the “loyalty” to Steem issue is by far the most important and vital issue that still exists and is still “the ball and chain” holding many things back.
What is priority #1 to those calling the shots?
is it Steem or exclusively personal wealth?

Some may argue that it is both in the one and same “motivation”, yet the question then gets put forward by myself, after seeing so much time, effort and outright work into building other things, that put Steem in second, third and even last place at times:

What are your priorities?
Where is Steem on the list of priorites and loyalties, compared to your other businesses that you seem to be putting so much effort into?

These are questions that all Steemians should be asking themselves when making decisions about our government (governance).

No, not all is “gloom and doom”, in fact I see some things that are above and beyond personal greed.
Here comes a quote from a fellow Steemian from Austria:
“Steem will be everything it can be once people stop equating Steemit.com (and Steemit Inc) to Steem”.
(basically those are pretty much his exact words).
This has been buzzing in my head for years now, heard it earlier from others too, yet it was after a discussion with this Steemian that it sank in.

Today we do see many more options out there for Steem, it isn’t all about “Steemit.com”, we are not secluded to blogging and nothing else.
In fact, we are seeing things happen even without SMTs!
Marvellous, fantastic, “you little ripper” as I would say when with those who speak the same dialect of English as me.

So we have moved forwards from the “exclusion” mentality and actually seen the adoption of “inclusion”.
WOW, what a leap, compared to the recap of events that I started with.
Who, why, where, how and WHY?
Well, add to that “priorities” and “loyalties, because we all remember D-Live.
“###########************%%%%%%%%%%’s” that is my opinion of them!
Note: the hidden text is censored so as not to use foul language in public.

So where are we now?
I see that we are moving in the right direction.
That is a lot more than what many could conclude when looking at the past.
Even with all the nooks and crannies, we are definitely getting out of the “subjectiveness” that we fell victim to and moving towards “objectiveness”.
Might not seem that way to some with all the “downvoting” soaps happening and getting all the silly attention that they get, but if you look at where we were and where we are, it is crystal clear that what the future of Steem holds is definitely a lot more than what we see around us today.
If we have managed to cut ourselves loose of the shackles that we put ourselves in by not wanting to allow anything different onto our Steem blockchain, then we are finally free!
The playing field is now open to ideas, opportunity, diversity.
Something that were only words in the past, they are now becoming reality, not necessarily along the path that many would have hoped for, but yes, we are there.

Which brings me to my final statement in this post,
“Are we finally accepting individuals and free thinkers, or are we still listening to those who repeat the same old things, like parrots?”
Or let me word that another way:
“Free thinkers or those that keep pitching the same old free set of steak knives?”

Yours truly,
@jackmiller

If you want an avatar and other graphics like my “Robotroo” contact @jimramones

STEEM ON!