The steem witnesses prior to 22.5 (and obvs 23) made the decision to freeze the stake held by Steemit Inc. They had reasons for doing so that they thought just. Not every witness agreed with the action. Not every witness deployed the softfork to freeze Steemit's stake.
Steem was built to handle such an event. We were to have the opportunity to discuss the actions taken by the witnesses and vote for witnesses according to our values. Many steemians were voicing their disagreement with the softfork. Discussions were taking place as to a better way forward. Before much headway was made toward a consensus, steemians had their voting power effectively removed.
Steemians had their voting power removed by exchanges voting Justin Sun as the sole witness on steem. That means the steem at the exchanges was effectively frozen.
Steem was designed to have the will of stakeholders implemented. We can have all the discussion and disagreement we want about the decency of that design. Indeed, DPoS is frequently discussed. Maybe 'wealth makes right' isn't a good idea. Maybe it's the best idea. Regardless, it's no longer how steem works. The witnesses are chosen by a single individual and are required to implement that individual's will or no longer be a witness. Steem, as it was intended to function, is dead.
There is no mourning for steem - the name isn't what drew me to it, it was the ideals. Those ideals are alive again here on Hive
With Hive, I again have to opportunity to vote on the blockchain's direction. If we don't like what witnesses do, we can vote for different witnesses. We can have an open discussion about what direction we'd like to go.
No ill will toward the people dedicated to steem, I'm just not as interested in a blockchain run by one single person. Doesn't mean the blockchain is bad. Doesn't mean that one single person is bad. It only means I'm not interested. It's important to me that leaders know they can be replaced. The action to replace them should be defined, expected, and nonviolent.
If protections fail and this chain is taken over by a single entity, I will go along with whatever fork comes out of that - and I would hope to see you all there