The full moon has been and gone, leaving in its wake a compulsion to write this post, to state my position on the flagwar triangle between @fulltimegeek vs @berniesanders & @themarkymark.
When the flag wars between FTG and Bernie broke out last year, I wrote two open letters:
...to Bernies Anders
...to Full Time Geek
In my letter to FTG, I stated that I was a fan. I was referring to being a fan of the 'pay it forward' energy, the generosity of helping others selflessly, of spreading Love - I will always remain a fan of actions that benefit others without exploitation and without causing division or conflict.
However, I am not a fan of the current situation and I wish to say so.
I am not a fan of the schoolboy insults; the provocations (clear provocations on either side - FTG, BS & TMM); the difficulty of reading comments due to mountains of shit; the sight of folk who purport to be for the blockchain acting like bullies, drama queens and big-headed, pretentious 'personalities' - as all three of you are presenting yourselves in this particular arena!
FTG, you have already withdrawn your support from me by stating that you would do so from anyone who continues to support TMM. His is an excellent witness and I will continue to support him!
Bernie, you're an enigma. You move between extremes of the occasional sublime and the very often shitty. You do give a shit, but you spread so much shit - I mean wtf?
TMM, you know you provoked this to the next level by burning the 60 steem! I think you clearly wanted a fight! I accept that FTG's impatience was provocative this time round (from the 'context'). Jumping on the Flat Earth theme is a real cheap shot btw!
I withdraw all and any support anyone may think I have for this circus of flag wars, impersonation (on both sides - ugly shit), accusation, retaliation, defamation.
I love and support individuals but I do not have to respect or support destructive and childish behaviour. I am not bound by anything, nor beholden to anyone.
You guys are injecting poison into the system! Find Peace or find a way out of this mess.
Or don't!
Regards
@barge
There's a part of me that watches all these actions with amusement. There's another part that thinks of what others from the outside looking in must think of this community, specially when some are caught in the crossfire.
Maybe you had to be a little crazy to mine steem early on and the first generation steemians will continue to be such enigmas.
When I was being flagged by hjin, FTG was generous with his support, unfortunately there's not much I can do to resolve this threesome.
I just hope at some point they all get bored and move on from these unproductive actions.
Anyway, good to see you around @barge, hope all is well with you.
@kabir88
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Thanks @kabir88, good to see you too bhai 🔆!
You said it!
And maybe your wise poetic namesake has a further little commentary on the situation!? :)
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I don't know the full extent of the flag war, and I don't want to, because it makes me feel negative.
I don't have much to say on the topic, other than I see this type of behavior as egotistical, maniacal, and somewhat psychopathic.
The reason why I see it this way is because it negates the overall concern to how it effects everyone else on this platform.
There are people here trying to use this space for GOOD purposes. There are hungry people here, there are poor people here, there are mentally sick people here.
These are some things that the big dogs don't give a fuck to consider.
The end result, with a blockchain which has a dwindling population as far as I know, is users leaving. Everyone has different reasons, but anyone foolish enough to believe that incidents like this don't have a negative impact, they are living in a delusion IMHO.
@fulltimegeek vs @berniesanders & @themarkymark.
What a fucking example you guys are setting.
Why don't you fellas give a guy like me some more motivation to leave and just go ahead and start flagging me too. In the end, perhaps you'll have the whole place to yourself to just flag away..
I don't even care to know what you guys are beefing about, because I think it's immature, ridiculous, and absolutely terrible for Steem, which I believed for the longest time was what you guys cared about. I guess it's not. I guess people just have to be right about shit, and are willing to waste their own wealth fighting, instead of maybe, idk... focusing on some real problems in the world?
How does it feel to know, you could have fed multiple families with those flags today guys? Great job.
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I feel like those families should do some work, earn some money and buy their own goddamn food.
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Yeah, there are some lazy people in the world, for sure, but some people don't have the means to make it happen, and this is an outlet for the less fortunate. I feel like this is something you understand perfectly well.
I don't have an issue with you @berniesanders, but I don't like your behavior, and I really hope you guys can work this out, because it isn't good for Steem, and that is also something, I feel I shouldn't have to say to a man of your stature.
Good day to you sir.
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Oh I get it, and I agree. When @fulltimegeek ceases his flags, everything will end. Until then, I will continue to flag everything him and his shills upvote.
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"sighs"..
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Well, hey.. not all bad there. One side just agreed to stop if the other does. Hear that @fulltimegeek? Once again, ball is in your court. Wanna ignore for a week again or just get this shit over with?
I think we all find it idiotic now, maybe we could move on. What do ya say?
I’d love to get back to curating and helping to push Steem to where we all want it to be. Which I won’t be doing anymore until flags to curation groups stop. I don’t think you care, but I would love to be proved wrong.
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Umm what flags? I’m not the one flagging. I don’t flag out of anger or hate. You can check my account if ya like.
I’m still curating like I always do regardless.
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From what I see, and I know very little about whats going on, you aren't the bad guy here, and as I stated, I really don't know much about what is even going on, but I know every time I see an article posted about this, it influences me in quite a negative way (my problem I know).
It would really be nice to just see this shit end. It really is pointless. The flagging system being used in this manner, is a total waste of resources, and purely selfish/ego driven/immature, and probably a few more words I could think to add to the context.
I probably shouldn't have said a damn word, not being read up on this.
But I think the fact that I did, kind of makes a statement in the sense, that this is derogatory, and negative for the users of Steem. (Which is obviously bad for Steem too) No one that I associate with enjoys this kind of drama, and how many of us are even left?
I know you are not someone to bullshit about your account activity, and also know your not talking to a newb who has no clue how to check, so I'm fine with taking your word for it man. I apologize for putting your name in the negative context. I hope you guys get this worked out in a productive/positive manner.
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I am not happy with this either, even if it wasn’t me being attacked. I am all for flags and believe they serve a critical purpose but not when used maliciously.
The problem is when money is involved people lose their rational side.
It is what it is. I don’t think it will ever change. Drama and money go hand and hand. It is good for popcorn though. If you are into that sort of thing.
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Couldn't have said it better myself.
I do love your popcorn bot btw ;)
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Wow @popcornexpress, you bot yourself into existence even when the word 'popcorn' is within the text of a link or what?
No worries, I'll take the 3 'P's (pirate, parrot, popcorn) - it's kinda what this shit is about anyway, so great comment indeed!
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Trigger happy pophead bot ;-)
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While I can't get behind all of it, I really like a lot of what you have to say here... but daren't upvote the post because La Bernice's bots are currently autoflagging anything I support. So here's an analog upvote for you.
You're one of my favorite authors :) I really admire your thoughtful way of expressing your opinions in times of turmoil. I try to take a page out of your book whenever someone triggerbaits me. #whatwouldbargedo
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Many thanks for saying so Kerry, love the analog(ue) uv 🔆
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It’s so childish, makes me sad for the future of this place. Life is short what the hell is the point of fighting with each other all the time? I very much enjoy the platform but this is a real detriment to its development and ability to draw investors to it.
Posted using Partiko iOS
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Careful now, stating anything the “Steem messiah” does around here as wrong is frowned upon 😉 you might end up in a spammers next comment!
All kidding aside, I think I agree with most of your points here and feel this is just getting silly. Thank you for being realistic with observing the wrongs among all three. Even if I don’t agree with all the details here, I feel they are all wrong in one way or another.
While flags don’t technically “hurt” the place, I feel that shit like this hurts the morale and outward appearance of it which can have long term effects. It seems that many enjoy the drama too much and will continue to fuel the fire though.. and well, that doesn’t really feel like anyone who cares about Steem to me.. even if they claim “innocence” in it all.
While I have been one who has campaigned to fix many of the past issues here, at this point I’ve even stopped caring. With the now attacks on curation groups, I don’t really feel much like doing any manual curation.. and as someone who has been a huge supporter of manual curation and the community as a whole, that’s pretty sad.
To move this place to the next level, we have to find a way to solve these issues or filter them out.. or we can just ignore and try to focus on the small good things, but eventually this effects everything. When everyone stops caring.. well 🤷🏻♀️
Anyways, sorry for my ramblings.. thanks for speaking out on the issue.
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I guess I had been wanting to pull my energy from this for a while now and I felt my fingers dragged to the keyboard yesterday, out in one! Fringe being that I may be, I have felt kinda involved - perhaps as a result of writing those two letters I linked to. Makes this post the third point of the triangle, my self-extrication from the combat zone :).
You're right that the blockchain is bigger than these battles and will not be 'hurt' as such - my graphic was rather sensationalist in this regard lol. It looks like my expression of anger/frustration/sadness at the issue more than a reflection of reality :)
Caring or not does seem to be a major factor - the quality of this 'care', and what is 'cared' about/for. And it seems that caring for all manner of things is on display (pride, status, perceptions of others, self-importance, schadenfreude....), save for the sensitivities of the hurting, feeling, inner child, whose cries of pain and anguish translate into weapons (if one has the power), or else tomatoes and rotten fruit thrown from the galleries. I guess in this sense, care = empathy = having some notion of the 'other's' emotional position on the issue in addition to one's own. When there is a perception of pain/vulnerability/feeling in the other (and of course people, especially men, are conditioned to conceal such things, for they are signs of weakness), it is harder to 'attack', for this is a reflection of one's own feelings. To attack nonetheless therefore, also has the quality of self-violation.
I read your post on this issue, and I have seen you around the blockchain. I know you have done a great deal to promote content and community and I know you have often been on the receiving end of sticks and stones. IMO, your communication skills are excellent!
Many thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts @llfarms 🔆
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Highly rEsteemed!
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Hi @barge!
Your post was upvoted by @steem-ua, new Steem dApp, using UserAuthority for algorithmic post curation!
Your UA account score is currently 2.949 which ranks you at #11208 across all Steem accounts.
Your rank has not changed in the last three days.
In our last Algorithmic Curation Round, consisting of 343 contributions, your post is ranked at #39.
Evaluation of your UA score:
Feel free to join our @steem-ua Discord server
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I burned the steem not because I wanted a fight because I wanted to show it wasn't about profits. Apparently most took it the wrong way.
I was going to refund, but when he threatened to perm flag me that went out the window. I have refunded in multiple cases in the past, and auto refund anything that isn't blacklist related.
Yeah and using 90+ bots to silence me by flagging every comment below zero so I am effectively silenced, spreading lies, attacking people who vote my witness, and attacking a selfless curation project isn't cheap. Yeah that's ethical and totally honorable.
I merely made a fun contest and gave away Steem, compare that to what he did(doing).
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I think that you allowed personal stuff to influence what was really a 'business' decision. You seem to have been provoked into anger and acted in a retaliatory manner from that space. Using this as an opportunity to provoke FTG in turn pushed it up to the next level for you guys. Although you are not responsible for anyone else's reactions, yours was a 'business' action driven by personal 'issues', and as such the discrepancy between the two (biz and personal) is your responsibility.
If FTG had violated your T&Cs or whatever, and you could point to other examples where you have withheld refunds, then refusing to return his refund would have a solid basis, irrefutable. Non Personal.
Of course the amount is symbolic, it is pretty clear to me that you are not a thief in deed or intention. But the gesture of burning the 60 seemed to have a big red 'Fuck You' in it. I get that the gesture could 'demonstrate' that you are not in it for profit, but it also demonstrates that you wished to jab your spear into FTG's ribcage.
In the earlier part of the conversation FTG appears provocatively impatient and lets fly with the word 'thief', which is uncalled for. He seems to have been already worked up, as is clear from the screenshot of your convo. He later completely backtracks (peace but no apology for the slander), but you are worked up by now and egg him on, you literally ask for it to happen (not saying "it's all your fault", just tracing routes) :
The FE contests seem to have a feel of something that is easy to pick on, a lightly disguised tool of mockery (the energy is not 'fun', but 'making fun of'). It's pretty ugly IMO, but so is much else which is not of your doing.
I absolutely take your point about FTG's flagging (defo also applies in its mirror image to Bernie's flagging - prob. more so, but hey, who's quibbling at this stage), it is one of the reasons for this post: to state my distaste and to distance myself from the drama and the dreary heaviness that is emanating from these flaggings and verbal fencing sessions. I had been feeling this for a while, it is now out of my system, whatever else may ensue.
I accept that you do not, and generally have not, stooped to ultra low practices. I did state my support for your witness (and, by extension, acknowledgement of your 'good character' :) in the post, overriding what FTG had demanded (most likely when in anger), yet taking it at face value and stating my position.
Thanks for commenting @themarkymark. I hope you see that my position is not personal against you, or anyone.
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