Hi! Thank you so much for your time to reply and your valuable contribution to the discussion!

The 13 week power down was primarily a thought process that emanated from a defeatist mindset

100%. If you make changes to the code to prevent users from leaving, you already make the dumbest decision and that is starting with the mindset of a potential defeat. In that case you already lost before you even start.

An incredible great point you bring up here!

but as a normal person the idea that my money would be stuck for 13 weeks And the fact that i would never be able to take advantage of Bull and Bear cycles on the market made sure i never powered up too much.

That is also what the average person wants. Flexibility and easy access to all funds, at all times. If we want global adoption, we need to do what the 90% of the public wants. We can not make decisions out of tribalism. We need to be innovative, and be pro active, not reactive.

Not mention all the flooding that happened with many Steem whales dumping on the market during the hard fork. Yet Steem continues to hold its own

It does, the price held very well which indicates the market is still bullish on STEEM, despite the "sell-off". I even think many held their STEEM cause they see the future value of it.