I'm sure the video that has inspired this somewhat weird rant will make its rounds on STEEM, or in the very least, it will be shared on private dms on discord before the day is over hundreds of times. An ex top 20 witness FUDing STEEM taste a little bitter, but honestly, I can't say I don't understand some of his points.

Understanding Capitalism

One would think that as someone who has lived in a Capitalist country, the underpinnings of how it works, the dynamics of free markets, with all its positives and negatives would be a subject that most financially able citizens would understand, but this video has shown me this is not the case.

Definition.-
an economic system based on private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Characteristics central to capitalism include private property, capital accumulation, wage labor, voluntary exchange, a price system, and competitive markets.

Now, I'm not going to argue for what is the best "ism" we should have, as I understand very well that the political debate has absolutely no winners, and I'm not trying to write a dissertation today either. However, we should agree on the fact that USA is a capitalist country, and we are participants of capitalism simply by being it's citizens.

Accusations and spreading FUD

There is some elements of truth to this ex witness accusations. Meaning that no one can really deny that ninja mine happened, and that we have a very skewed distribution of the STEEM token on the platform. That is verifiable, that is a concern that I also share.

If you are a regular follower of this blog, I'm sure you've read about the 1%ers of STEEM, and I'm sure that you also were a bit shocked to learn that if a user had more than 500SP on his/her wallet, he belonged to it. So, I'm not going to deny this is not ideal, or even attempt to say that I like it. But, there is a big chunk of the responsibility that falls on all the users who are consistently powering down and selling all their stake, thus not creating for themselves a sustainable system.

I won't beat the horse more on this subject, because I already gave it so many kicks I lost my shoes along the way. However, examples like this one:

Are quite easy to find...

But, for the sake of continuing the conversation past that point, allow me to continue.

Most people don't make much

Of course this is true, and honestly it should be true. Now, before you get angry at me, let me explain something really quick. No one, and I do mean not a single person should be arguing for equality of outcome. These ideas that everyone should have the results regardless of effort is so ridiculous, that I'm flabbergasted, I can't believe the case needs to be made.

"I copy pasted all my articles real good... Why don't I make as much as @insert-steemian-you-look-up-to ?"

So when someone tells me, that most people on STEEM don't make a dime, I'm not surprised, not even a little bit, simply because most, not all of the content on here is not worth a single penny. Yes, I said it, and all of us know that is an ugly truth. If you don't believe me hit the NEW tab on the front page and scroll.

You have to sell the tokens to make money

Oh yes, the old conundrum, you must buy something, own it, in order to sell it. And, let's not forget you must buy high and sell low, or wait... is it the other way around? I haz a confuse. But in all seriousness, I don't understand how an ex top 20 witness has just discovered a basic concept such as this.

The stock exchange, the traditional markets, the core of the american economy have existed for over a century. Buying low and selling high is as old as dirt, yet, we must feel guilt when we do so? I mean, I don't know if I'm the one who is having a mental flatulation here, but I understood this before I shaved my face for the first time.

Maybe, and I do mean this sincerely, just maybe, this confused ex witness does not understand the reasons why a company goes public, how stocks are calculated, both in cost and in quantities, and maybe, that is why he is so confused about the whole thing. If I didn't understand stocks at least at a basic level, I would have a hard time understanding cryptocurrencies, speculative markets, and basic concepts like liquidity.

The top 1/10th of People make all the money

Again possibly true, possibly. But, this depends on what your definition of "all" is, because from where I stand plenty of talented users with no fiat investment from venezuela, for example, have not only made some money, but more importantly have had their lives changed because of STEEM. So, if your concept of "all" is that we have don't have a huge population of millionaires measured in the american standard, then I guess I would have to agree.

The critique is also, that when we rally, the big whales, the huge stake holders, dump into the markets with absolute merciless selling. Yes, that is also true, but again, that's capitalism and free market for you. I don't understand how people that are here, that are participating of an economy that works and has worked like this for over a century are surprised. That, I must confess, blows my mind!

"Did you know that when people pull fish out of the water, they die... Poor fish..."

Where is the consistency?

If this ex witness actually felt bad about the little guy, then how did he show it? By ignoring the comment section? Was that part of the plan?

I mean, don't get me wrong, you don't have to answer to your commenters, that's not a rule per say. But if you had one of the highest followed accounts on STEEM and the one thing you would do out of "kindness" was a resteem every now and then, and later only if you paid $50 bucks a month. It doesn't seem to me that kindness was a main drive there.

Maybe if I would have seen generosity with votes, maybe even donations to a charity, maybe I could take those words of regret and concern a little more seriously. Yes, this ex witness would have made less than the almost 200k he's made on STEEM over his year on here, which is nothing to complain about mind you, but maybe he would have felt better about himself... maybe.

I bid him farewell

And believe it or not, I mean that sincerely. I don't think he had the right mindset for this to begin with, the way it worked in his mind was that he only had two choices, nothing else:

• Become corrupt and evil like the other whales _{(you said you played the game, until you could no more)}
• Or get out the game

No nuance, no middle ground, nothing. I don't know, but I think that says a lot about someone's world view. I for one, I'm grateful that at least I found STEEM because he was shilling it out there, regardless of his intentions I guess.

Anyways my friends, I'm sure you will find this video soon enough. But, read up on the subjects and don't buy into the FUD. He's just justifying his actions, after all lets not forget: He's done with crypto