The "New STEEM" Meme ... Of Ponderings, Plato & Poets
Well, @theycallmedan is at it again.
Another surprisingly generous contest meant to elevate the profile and value of STEEM/Steemit. If half the Whales were half as focused as Dan on building a functional blockchain ... we would have a blockchain that was functional.
Alas, they aren't and we don't. And, I'm afraid, I don't quite share Dan's level of optimism about the value of "New STEEM" (post Hard Fork 21). Nevertheless, I am loathe to pass on any of Dan's contests because, ultimately, participation is what makes any contest successful and I, like so many others, owe him.
That said, I am equally loathe to be disingenuous.
And so, I started to mull over how I could create a MEME that was engaging but which didn't require me to lie my ass off. Given the intent of the Contest, my MEME won't win ... but there's still something to be said for having a laugh, even if it comes at one's own expense.
Since I know most of you have a policy against clicking on links in a post, thereby resulting in endless confusion (the very confusion meant to have been avoided by the inclusion of said links), I've copy-pasted an article from Steemit TODAY which was the inspiration for my MEME:
SteemPonderings: “Folks, this is @steemponderings welcoming you to Podcast No. 37 of Steemit Today and I’m with today’s guest, @anarcho-zealot who, as you may know, is a Witness and a recent speaker at SteemFest3 in Krakow, Poland. Anarcho-Zealot, welcome.”
Anarcho-Zealot: “Thank you for having me.”
SteemPonderings: “Anarcho, it would be remiss of me not to inquire about your latest oratorical fisticuffs with @quillfire. What’s going on between the two of you?”
Anarcho-Zealot: “QuillFire’s a war criminal.”
SteemPonderings: “That’s pretty sharp-elbowed, isn’t it? Would you care to elaborate?
Anarcho-Zealot: “QuillFire’s a communist, dictator, fascist, Nazi scumbag.”
SteemPonderings: “Some have said you’re just angry because you don’t like his suggestions about how to reform the blockchain. Those same people say your ad hominem attacks are unjustified and, to be frank, childish.”
Anarcho-Zealot: “They’re communists and fascists too.”
SteemPonderings: “Not to be pedantic, but you do know that communists and fascists are each other’s opposites. That you’re actually hurling around mutually-exclusive insults.”
Anarcho-Zealot: “Not true. If you’re communist or fascist enough, you can be a 'communistic fascist' or a 'fascistic communist.' He wants to implement blockchain Rules of Conduct. So ... he's both.”
SteemPonderings: “... Fair enough. What are your thoughts about the future of STEEM and Steemit?”
Anarcho-Zealot: “Well, STEEM and Steemit are not the same thing. Everybody keeps making that mistake and me and the other Witnesses keep correcting them … literally hundreds of times every day.”
SteemPonderings: “But isn’t that just because most people associate STEEM with Steemit given that Steemit is the blockchain’s primary, and obviously most important, application? And hence, they use the two terms interchangeably because 99.99% of the time it creates no confusion?”
Anarcho-Zealot: “No, it’s because they’re communists and fascists.”
SteemPonderings: “Advocating for Rules of Conduct to stamp out Gaming of the Reward Pool, introducing common-sense mechanisms for enforcement and using STEEM and Steemit interchangeably … that’s what you think makes people communists and fascists?”
Anarcho-Zealot: “Exactly.”
SteemPonderings: “In your Krakow speech, you were very optimistic about the future of the blockchain. With the price of STEEM at less than $0.40 and it having dropped from a Top 20 cryptocurrency to barely Top 50, some are having a hard time sharing your optimism.
QuillFire, for one, says that all the cheating on Steemit drains the Reward Pool and castrates the curation feedback loops upon which the entire endeavor is predicated. That all the vote-buying and vote-rigging is making failure inevitable by emasculating Steemit's raison d'etre, its Central Premise that, Content Shall Be Compensated Commensurate With Its Quality. How say you?”
Anarcho-Zealot: “QuillFire's a communist, dictator, fascist, Nazi scumbag.”
SteemPonderings: “So ... getting back to the reason for your extreme optimism.”
Anarcho-Zealot: “Look, most people just don’t understand the fundamentals of cryptocurrencies. They don't understand what really drives the process. It is this ignorance of Anarcho-Economics that is shaking their faith in STEEM. STEEM will be worth $1,000 in six months.”
SteemPonderings: “$1,000 … up from less than $0.40 … in six months! Help me understand how that happens?”
Anarcho-Zealot: “Alright, let me break it down. What substance covers 70% of the Earth's surface?”
SteemPonderings: “… Water.”
Anarcho-Zealot: “Exactly. And what happens to water when you heat it up?”
SteemPonderings: “It ... boils.”
Anarcho-Zealot: “Precisely. And what exactly happens when it boils?
SteemPonderings: “It ... turns into a gas. Water vapor.”
Anarcho-Zealot: “Right! And ... what is the everyday word for 'water vapor?'”
SteemPonderings: “… Steam.”
Anarcho-Zealot: “BINGO! And if you look in the dictionary … guess how they phonetically write the word ‘steam?’
steam
[steem]
You think that’s just a coincidence?”
SteemPonderings: “You don’t?”
Anarcho-Zealot: “No, I don’t. ‘Steam’ is the transformation of water into a new state of matter. ‘STEEM’ is the transformation of fiat into a new state of money. Just as the Earth needs water, humanity needs STEEM. That's called, 'DEMAND.' It all makes perfect sense.”
SteemPonderings: “Hang on just a second. Isn’t that exactly the kind of 'ideological nonsense' that QuillFire’s always railing against? Indeed, because of it, he refers to you as an, ‘Asshat in search of his lunch.'"
Anarcho-Zealot: “QuillFire's a communist, dictator, fascist, Nazi scumbag.”
SteemPonderings: “In fairness to QuillFire, a lot of other people might find your line of reasoning a bit weak. Have you got anything else?”
Anarcho-Zealot: “Alright, how about this:
Water, water everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink,
Water, water everywhere,
And not a drop to drink.”
Do you know what that is?”
SteemPonderings: “It’s a quotation from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s famous poem, ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner.’"
Anarcho-Zealot: “Negatory. That’s what the Bilderbergers and their puppets, the Central Banks, want you to believe. You’ve been drinking the Kool Aid.”
SteemPonderings: “Well, what is it then?”
Anarcho-Zealot: “Well, think about that quotation ... and think about what it's really telling you:
‘Water, water everywhere,’ … Fiat, fiat everywhere
‘And all the boards did shrink,’ … And all the world’s economies shrank
‘Water, water everywhere, … Nostradamus repeats himself for dramatic effect
‘And not a drop to drink’ … We’re all going to die of thirst and starvation.
SteemPonderings: “Did you just say … Nostradamus?”
Anarcho-Zealot: “That’s right. Nostradamus was warning the world about fiat and telling it to turn to STEEM to solve its problems. He was a prophet you know.”
SteemPonderings: “And ... how exactly is it that you know Nostradamus wrote that stanza?”
Anarcho-Zealot: “Nostradamus wrote in 4-line quatrains.”
SteemPonderings: “Yes … but so did 99.99% of English poets for centuries … including Samuel Taylor Coleridge.”
Anarcho-Zealot: “Ah, but you're missing pieces of the puzzle. If you rearrange the letters of his name, NOSTRADAMUS, guess what it says?”
SteemPonderings: “What?”
Anarcho-Zealot: “'A SMART NODUS.’ And what blockchain is based upon'Proof of Brain?' And of what are our brains mostly made? 'Water, water everywhere ...' And what does water transform into ... steam. And how is 'steam' written phonetically?
SteemPonderings: "... STEEM."
Anarcho-Zealot: "LAMBO!" Nostradamus was vectoring in from different directions. Indeed, it could be argued that Nostradamus was STEEM’s First Witness!”
SteemPonderings: “A lot of people might express … skepticism … about your interpretation.”
Anarcho-Zealot: “Yeah ... communists and fascists.”
SteemPonderings: “Like QuillFire?”
Anarcho-Zealot: “Exactly.”
SteemPonderings: “QuillFire once said that if he ever meets you in person, he’s going to, quote: ‘Stick your head so far up your ass, you’ll be wearing your eyeballs as earrings.’ Thoughts?”
Anarcho-Zealot: “You know, QuillFire thinks he’s so smart. Always yapping about logic and quoting Aristotle. But it’s obvious he knows nothing about Anarcho-Logic ... and, you don’t see him authoring things like the Lilac Paper either, do you? Just a bunch of stupid poems.”
SteemPonderings: “The Lilac Paper?”
Anarcho-Zealot: “… I’ve said too much.”
SteemPonderings: “Oh, come on. What’s the Lilac Paper?”
Anarcho-Zealot: “Well … I can’t get into details, but you know about STEEM’s White Paper, right?”
SteemPonderings: “Yes, of course.”
Anarcho-Zealot: “Well, let’s just say that amongst Whales and Witnesses, there is a Higher Order of Understanding.’”
SteemPonderings: “As explained in the Lilac Paper?”
Anarcho-Zealot: “Correct.”
SteemPonderings: “Can I get a copy of this Lilac Paper?”
Anarcho-Zealot: “No, it’s ‘Eyes Only’ for Whales and Witnesses.”
SteemPonderings: “Who authored it?”
Anarcho-Zealot: “I did.”
SteemPonderings: “So … the Nostradamus thing, all the Whales and Witnesses know about that too?”
Anarcho-Zealot: “Of course, blockchain transparency.”
SteemPonderings: “But you just said only Whales and Witnesses have access to the Lilac Paper. That’s not very transparent.”
Anarcho-Zealot: “It’s stake-weighted transparency. You'd only be able to read the title ... maybe a couple of footnotes.”
SteemPonderings: “I see. I’ve got to be perfectly honest, Anarcho, I’m not sure everybody’s going to be convinced by your rationale.”
Anarcho-Zealot: “No … well how about this: Was there any 'unusual happenings' on the blockchain on Thanksgiving?’”
SteemPonderings: “Do you mean the wallet glitch that transformed everyone into billionaires and trillionaires?”
Anarcho-Zealot: “Exactly. Everyone becoming billionaires and trillionaires ... that would be something about which to be thankful, wouldn’t it?”
SteemPonderings: “Sure.”
Anarcho-Zealot: “Well … what’s the biggest thing on Steemit right now? What’s everybody talking about?
SteemPonderings: “The plummeting price of STEEM.”
Anarcho-Zealot: “No ... @steemmonsters.”
SteemPonderings: “Oh. OK. And …”
Anarcho-Zealot: “And … guess what happens when you rearrange the letters in STEEM MONSTERS?”
SteemPonderings: “Another anagram? I don’t know. What?”
Anarcho-Zealot: “OMEN SETS TERMS.”
SteemPonderings: “And … you find that meaningful?”
Anarcho-Zealot: “Of course. The value of every wallet on the blockchain going parabolic ... making everyone billionaires and trillionaires. That’s an ‘omen’ … and it's ‘setting the terms.’ It's prophetic ... just like Nostradamus. That's straight-line Anarcho-Logic.”
SteemPonderings: “I wonder what QuillFire would have to say about that?
Anarcho-Zealot: “QuillFire’s a communist, dictator, fascist, Nazi scumbag.”
SteemPonderings: Alright folks, that's it for this episode of Steemit TODAY. Anarcho-Zealot, thank you for your insights. If anyone would like to read QuillFire's Series of Articles about how to reform the blockchain before it hits $0.00, here are the links:
1. Jerry Banfield, DownVoting & Freedom of Speech
2. "DownVoting as Censorship" - A Series About Fixing Steemit: Part 2
3. "Derivatives" - A Series About Fixing Steemit - Part 3
And the Statistics Shattering:
4. "Central Premise & Proposals" - A Series About Fixing Steemit - Part 4
And the Statistics Necessitated:
5. FOLLOW UP: "Central Premise & Proposals" - A Series About Fixing Steemit - Part 4
The Lilac Paper & Hard Fork 21
As some of you may know, Hard Fork 21 will be the implementation of Phase 2 of the Lilac Paper. One of its central features will be to afford Steemians an opportunity to downvote posts without adversely effecting their Voting Power.
That way, Steemians can follow Plato's advice and drive from the blockchain the vermin that have been spreading FAKE News and instigating insurretion:
The Lilac Paper [Anarcho-Zealot quoting Plato in the Republic]:
"The other dangers of poets are that they corrupt youth and incite the passions instead of the faculties of reason. The poet, “with his words and phrases,” is able to convince listeners that he knows what he speaks of: “such is the sweet influence which melody and rhythm by nature have.” Poetry, including the narratives of others’ lives, appeals to the emotions; it “feeds and waters the passions instead of drying them up; she lets them rule, although they ought to be controlled, if mankind are ever to increase in happiness and virtue.”
"You heard him! And in Part X of the Republic, Plato concluded that poets must be banished from the hypothetical, ideal society ... and so ... poets MUST BE banished from Steemit, our Anarchistic Heaven on Earth. And I say ... we start with that asshole, QuillFire."
Alas, I fear that for poets, Tuesday, August 27, 2019 ... will be a day that lives in infamy.
We are about to get our asses handed to us on a platter. The blockchain will be rocked to its core as long-form diatribes and smarty-pants soliloquies become subject to unrestrained backlash. The functionally illiterate, enraged by reminders that they are not to finish a sentence with a preposition ... or begin one with a semi-colon ... are about to unleash their fury.
;And with that, my MEME ... a thing I hope you will be appreciative of.
Daniel ... forgive me.
Quill
All images are linked to source, are QuillFire originals or are modifications of images in the public domain. Videos and images may also be parodies of original works, therefore relying upon applicable exemptions from copyright.
You guys know the QuillDrill. Be verbose ... but articulate.
And remember ...
Go Love a Starving Poet
For God's sake ... they're starving!
I don't think I have a response adequate enough for this most grandiose "meme" entry. Well done, as always. At least we've got good company in the PHC as our asses simmer and get juicy for plating. 😉
@plantstoplanks,
PHC is my last bastion of sanity in a sea of madness (stay tuned, though ... I'm doing a post). Mind you, because all you PHC gals seemed to have mastered culinary analogies, I find myself frequently running to the kitchen for a snack ... and the calories are adding up!
Quill
Add in a jog around the block before you hit the kitchen...😉
I absolutely love your sense of humor, @quillfire. And I can’t imagine how it took to produce this post! Wow.
@jayna,
Thanks Jayna.
Yes, the posts take a long while to create (usually between 10-20 hours). People frequently make the mistake in thinking that "because I can write," the "writing must come easily." It doesn't. It is ALWAYS the end result of endless editing ... writing then re-writing, then re-writing again.
And this is why I endlessly rant about the cheating. If Steemit is ever to become a thing, some number of people must be willing to do what it takes to "create the extraordinary" ... for the "ordinary" will not draw a crowd. It must be a deliberate act. And yet, "creating extraordinariness" seems ever to take a backseat to game-playing of one sort or another.
I predict this will spell the blockchain's doom.
Quill
Yet you still enter a contest for a chance to win steem on a platform you dislike... Quilldiva, kindly remove your head from your own backside, you love it here.
With the doubling of curation rewards it now means that my engagement on the platform is going to be doubly rewarded, which is a win in my book. I curate more than I post so I'm looking forward to what lies ahead.
Still no Voice platform after their "launch" either? #lostyourvoice
Funny meme though and good luck in the contest.
Posted using Partiko Android
@nickyhavey,
You're right, I do LOVE it here. And hence my endless harangue about doing the hard things necessary to make the platform a thing about which I could be enamoured.
But make no mistake, STEEM/Steemit is committing suicide and Happy Talk won't change the fact. At this point, it is unlikely that anything could, but as I don't know the meaning of surrender ...
Most charitably, Hard Fork 21 is fiddling while Rome burns. Less charitably, it's throwing fuel on the fire. Given that posts with payouts worth less than 16 STEEM will be severely disadvantaged, what do you want to bet that a ton people will now start using bidbots to get over that threshold in an effort to trigger follow-on curation? Moreover, because of bidbots' delegations, they will now possess a pile of "free downvotes." How long do you think it will be before they too are auctioned off to the highest bidder?
We're still trying to have it both ways, to eat our cake and have it too.
Either it's a 100% merit-based curation system or it's not. And if it's not, it's manipulation. You can't be half-pregnant.
Given the new thresholds, I suspect most of your curation efforts will constitute "dust" and be worthless.
As I've explained elsewhere, Voice can't launch until the EOS 1.8 upgrade is complete. That will occur on September 23 ... in less than a month. Admittedly, BlockOne made a hash of their "Voice Launch Announcement" and I've criticized them loudly for it. But there's nothing to be gained by beating a dead horse. If they've created a cheat-free platform where merit trumps manipulation, it will be the end of Steemit.
Quill
100% and not even a penny Sir Quill oh drat, worth squat except to cheer you on!
Plummet for most except but a few, we will wait and see what next we do!
@joanstewart,
Well, that last line was worth a great deal more than a penny. :-)
Quill
Hahahahaha just ¡Marvellous!* @quillfire.
You already brought the poetry & laughs. So, now I will have to bring the Porn!!
Let's see if I can still come with some witty MeMe or Gif before SEPTEMBER, 6th, 2019. :)
@por500bolos,
It's working again. :-)
Quill
Whatever's happening here is funny
Posted using Partiko Android
@improv,
Considering that that came from a guy called, "Improv" ... thank you. :-)
Lots of other funny stuff in past posts.
Quill
I @m struggling to write a comment on a crappy bus with a stinky bathroom, where i have be3n confined for 7 hours and 6 more to go, and will only say i dont know how you man@ge to m@ke us laugh about our own demise
@hlezama,
Hey Henrry.
Gallows Humor ... Venezuelans' national pastime ... because what else can they afford? :-)
If you're posting, you're still alive. Let me know when you make it back home.
Quill
Don't you think people will take advantage of that and just be giving downvotes? Coininstant was giving me 1 downvote a day with 2 accounts because I commented on his enemy's post. Imagine he being able to do that for free.
@fredkese,
Exactly true.
What the geniuses running the show never seem capable of comprehending is that STEEM/Steemit is about genetic code, not computer code. If someone walked up to you on the street and slapped your face ... you are going to respond in kind. A functional blockchain has to be designed around "how people are," not "how you'd like them to be." This has been the Achilles Heel of every Utopian political ideology in history ... including that which underpins cryptocurrencies, Anarchism.
Quill
Those at the top have spoken, what can we do down below
@fredkese,
I have been writing for some time that a Day of Reckoning is fast approaching. Wars happen because the conditions for war ... exist. And nothing offends human sensibilities more quickly than the feeling of being cheated. I explain this phenomenon is great detail in: https://steemit.com/steemit/@quillfire/central-premise-and-proposals-a-series-about-fixing-steemit-part-4
It's not the change from 75/25 to 50/50 per se that's the problem (professional curation is every bit as important as quality content creation). The problem is what did not occur simultaneous to said reduction ... bidbots were not banned. If anything, the system is now more gameable by those with fat wallets and a willingness to self-deal.
And, the new downvoting regimen will not have the intended effect ... Whale Wars never have a lasting curative effect and Minnows downvoting Whales, for whatever reason, constitutes blockchain suicide.
STEEM/Steemit has become corrupted to the core. For Heaven's sake, look how many Witnesses own or delegate to bidbots ... the antithesis of merit-based curation. Cheating has become institutionalized and those who ought to be responsible for policing against it are instead its greatest perpetrators.
Up to this point, STEEM/Steemit has gotten away with murder because a viable alternative didn't exist. Monopoly obviates the need to be competitive.
But @dan, the guy who technically built STEEM/Steemit, left and constructed EOS. In the process, he raised USD $4 billion, most of which remains unspent. His development company, BlockOne will be launching "Voice" on September 23 (or very soon thereafter).
Voice is often billed as "Steemit 2.0" but I would argue it would be more accurately called the "anti-Steemit." Instead of replicating Steemit, it is clear that Voice's design reflects a strong desire to prevent the systemic problems that plague Steemit.
Once an alternative exists, we shall see who needs who more, the Minnows or the Whales ... the customers or the shareholders.
Quill
About the bidbots, there are some witnesses who are downvoting 'unworthy' posts that have been promoted with bidbots since the hard fork. About Voice, some people don't want to use their credentials to sign up, so steemit has an advantage there. Do you believe people will completely move from steemit when there's an alternative?
This post was curated by @theluvbug
and has received an upvote and a delayed resteem to hopefully generate some ❤ extra love ❤ for your post!
In Proud Collaboration with The Power House Creatives
and their founder @jaynie
@theluvbug,
Everyone loves the LuvBug.
Thank you.
Quill