Hello Steemers, 

I woke up to the latest update on Trump's lead in the presidential race against Hillary Clinton.  I want to take this opportunity to share my thoughts and most specifically on what that means to us here at steemit. This article will focus mostly on the mentality that Trump has on the Internet and how to control it. 

What this means for STEEMIT and the Internet

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has made various comments over the years that have left many in the tech communities feeling more than uneasy. 

Trump quoted, "The internet and the whole computer age is really a mixed bag. It makes life easier in some ways, but in a lot of ways it makes it much more complex”, his comments after the Sony hacks in 2014. Also quoted we should: "wean ourselves a little bit off the internet”.

Trump has never given the tech community a loving squeeze, as different candidates attempting to charm the well off tech benefactors have done.

Trump has stated the US ought to consider "closing up" web to control radical fanaticism. Trump, a man that routinely guarantees everybody accountable for the US is doltish, trusts that as president he could simply ring Bill Gates to help him close off the web. 

"We have to talk to them about, maybe in certain areas, closing that internet up in some way. Somebody will say, 'Oh freedom of speech, freedom of speech.' These are foolish people. We have a lot of foolish people.” Clip is shown below with commentary from Secular Talk on December 2015.

The thought alone...speechless.

Though Clinton has laid out a number of her positions in the tech business, Trump has said little past his primary battle stages. 

Case in point, 145 tech power players wrote an open letter to the public about Donald Trump.

"We believe in an inclusive country that fosters opportunity, creativity and a level playing field. Donald Trump does not."

"Donald Trump articulates few policies beyond erratic and contradictory pronouncements," the tech pioneers wrote in their public statement.

"When you have the world looking at us and would like to destroy us as quickly as possible, I err on the side of security, and so that's the way it is, that's the way I've been, and some people like that, frankly, and some people don't like that," Trump states. "I assume when I pick up my telephone people are listening to my conversations anyway, if you want to know the truth. It's pretty sad commentary, but I err on the side of security."

Trump hasn't made his perspectives on tech completely clear, contrasted and Hillary Clinton — a move that is more than unsettling.

Why I'm concerned about STEEMIT

I rarely talk about politics, however, after reading the current poll updates it made me want to speak out on the impact this could have. If we go down the rapid hole of restricting parts of the internet, as trump so suggests, while realistically not happening anytime soon, we could theoretically in the future have amazing communities like Steem censored. Communities which value free speech and empower us. 

Feel free to share your take on this. 

As always, thanks for stopping by!

(sources - http://money.cnn.com/2016/07/14/technology/tech-industry-open-letter-trump/index.html http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-tech-policies-2016-7)