Excellent post @charles1.

I agree that Steemit is an excellent platform. Only being here a short while, I am still learning the ropes. I do not know the present war that you discuss but have seen similar situations repeatedly. From my perspective, the only thing that will kill this is from within. People want to get their egos in the way to the detriment of the overall success. I know many people are strong willed, that is actually an admirable trait. However, there still needs to be enough ability to step back and realize when one is so focused on the battle that the war gets lost.

As for the voting, it seems to be a drawback that there downvotes take away power. Speaking as a newer person, your intuition is 100% correct. We would all be thrilled to get a vote from one of the whales....even a 1% or 5% vote is more than most of us receive in a day.

Sometimes people get too far removed from the source. Isnt the idea of this place to give people a place to go, earn money for participating and creating content, and helping others? Did I miss something or read something into it that is not here? Perhaps the individuals you speak of forgot about that.

Thank you for this post and all that you do to call attention to what is taking place.