RE: Is Inequality on Steemit really a good thing?? A response.
Upvoting because I like the discussion, not because I necessarily agree. When it comes to meritocracy, I think it's important to separate out the quality of the written content and the efforts put into building and supporting this platform from the beginning. I've confused these before and someone corrected me in the chat, which I was grateful for. Those who built this system have a much better argument as far as the merits of their efforts. That gives them the right to control the conversation, to a degree. That's meritocratic, from that perspective and some I've talked to in the chat convinced me things will become less meritocratic as the masses join Steemit and the content skews toward what average people what (think mainstream TV... ack). Either way, like I said, I think it's an important discussion to have.
Hi, thanks for your upvote! I don't think there is any contrast here, building the platform and other parts of the ecosystem are contributions just like the posts are contributions. However a meritocracy is never closed towards new entries, and it does not bestow any 'right' to control the conversation or something like that. Essentially an aristocracy often starts out as a meritocracy, and then comes stagnation and the inheritance of power, and at that point it is no longer a meritocracy!
I have great respect for the developers, they are very very good, but I can still criticize that the system they've designed is not yet functioning to its best ability. As I've tried to make clear in another post, it is not simply the best we will ever get; there will be other entries in this field soon, and different strategies will yield different results in the future.
Well, the Steemit.com site is open source now and if someone can do a better job than those who currently have consensus (the witnesses), then new changes to the blockchain could be made as well changes to the interface by forking the Steemit code. It's easy to criticize, hard to create. To me, this is one of the most incredible experiments to come along in a long time which could not only provide an alternative to the dominating, centrally controlled social media platforms, but it also can introduce every day people to cryptocurrencies and, eventually, agorism. There's a lot to celebrate here. I feel we should focus on improving, rather than criticizing. That said, I still think it's an important conversation, when done respectfully.