Before today, I had never purchased Steem or SBD with my own Fiat money...
Before today, I had never really put much thought into my choice of witnesses...
Before today, I secretly coveted the price of steem over the community...
Before today, I doubted certain witnesses and the decisions they had made...
Before today, I felt slightly ambiguous about the future of Steem...
Before today, I had reservations about the sincerity of certain Steemians...
Before today, I was optimistic about the Tron Takeover...
I've been a member of the Steem blockchain for well over 2-years and it isn't any kind of exaggeration to say that today is the most important day of the Steem community, although I can only speak for myself.
It all began this morning when I logged into my esteem app and came across 2 posts that gave some shocking news referring to the behaviour of Justin Sun and various exchanges. Now I am a complete R-Tard when it comes to crypto and blockchain, but the posts I read had been written most thoughtfully and explained the situation so even I could absorb the impact. It was shocking to read and I am not about to butcher their good work, so please click the links below and read for yourself if you haven't already.
After reading this information I felt several emotions. My first reaction was fear for Steem as a blockchain and for the value of my investment. The 2nd emotion I felt was a very tribal one and as I stated in the comment section, I intended to update my witness votes as soon as I returned home from work.
Now it has been a while since I felt strongly about the community and I have good reasons for this that I think many can relate to. One of the main reasons is the increase in in-fighting that I've seen escalate over the past few months. The flag-wars have taken their toll on my spirit and good will, as it seemed like the blockchain had regressed back to the school playground. Thankfully, my mood had changed slightly over the past few weeks with all the talk of Takeovers and possible improvements. It's been entertaining to watch this power struggle take place and I honestly couldn't decide whether or not I trusted Justin Sun or the original Steem witnesses. I've met none of them personally, but I have had contact with a few over in the PAL discord whilst listening to various shows on MSP waves. Because of my interactions on PAL I gave the benefit of the doubt to the original witnesses and this opinion was cemented after listening to some very concerned witnesses about 2-weeks ago.
With this new sense of community I have felt slightly more involved and 100% more interested in events, but still I have to admit to a niggling feeling of dis-connect towards a bigger picture. Then today happened and everything changed for the better...
With all I had read about Justin's dirty deeds, voting in witnesses that have no place being there, I felt an urge to tune into MSP waves tonight and I am so glad I did! Boy, if I didn't already have a fire lit under me from what I'd read, I certainly did after tonight's show had finished...
When I fired up my laptop I was expecting to hear the beautiful tones of Crimsonclad explaining more about what I'd read today. Instead, I was greeted with more serious tones, coming from various witnesses and influential community members.
I can't possibly relay what was said but what I can say is that it was truly inspiring! All the main players were speaking about the recent events but it wasn't an angry pointless ranting. This was different, this was a conversation full of constructive energy with a never say die attitude. In the UK we would call this kind of rhetoric "The stiff upper lip" and maybe that's why it appealed to me so much. Just investigate the meaning of my Steemit name and you'll find out that I am all about sticking it to tyrants and fighting alongside "The little man". So, I thank those who spoke tonight from the bottom of my heart, which is now full with the thought of community.
I care not for the price of steem and Justin Sun can go have his cake and choke on it. What I passionately care about, once again, is Steem as a community. I hereby pledge my allegiance to the real witnesses, most of whom sit just outside the coveted top-20, thanks to Justin. I will go were ever you lead me to and after tonight I trust you all completely.
I used to scoff when folk commented that Justin Sun had not understood what he purchased when he did his deal with Ned. I used to think there was no way someone like Mr Sun would not understand a purchase such as this, but now I'm of the mind that Justin really did have no idea what he bought himself into...
This is the Steem Blockchain and it is quite unique. It is a place of passionate misfits, people fed up with the status quo served to us in the mainstream. Unfortunately for Justin, he underestimated us and now it seems he has poked the proverbial bear...Good luck with that and may the best Blockchain win ;)
It couldn't be easier to make sure you're supporting the right witnesses. Justin has replaced the top 20 witnesses with his own and this is detrimental to our future. Because of the battle-cry given out over MSP waves tonight, the Steem community has managed to regain 4 of the top 20 witness places and this blocks Justin from making any drastic changes. Please, don't think that the battle is won, we still need more witnesses to be reinstated. To help to achieve this we need as many good men and women from this brilliant community to vote for the right witnesses. Like me, you may have witness votes cast to people far from the top-20 and, at this present time, this will not suffice. It is imperative that you alter your witness votes to those who are now just outside the top-20.
Because the situation is changing by the hour and certain Tron witnesses may now be just outside the top-20, the easiest way I can suggest for you to alter your votes to be most effective would be to use a proxy voter. You can do this easily through your wallet. Just click the drop down menu and click the link that says "vote for witnesses". Then, all you do is scroll down and select the Proxy link. Once you've done that you can type in the appropriate proxy voter. I've been told by a very reliable source that either 
And don't worry, once this is all over you can swap your votes back to the way they were before. But don't leave it too long or there might not be anything left to vote on!
And if you are that way inclined, 
Peace to you and yours and long live Steem!!
