Worker illustrations by Storyset
One of the enduring themes or narratives on the Hive blockchain is the importance of free speech. It was and still is, to a large extent, Hive’s silver bullet—the thing that would drive the masses to the chain. I have been on the chain for over five years, and never has that been the case for the majority. So it begs the question: Is free speech important, and to whom?
I received a comment on my previous post about how free speech has existential value, which led me to write this post because I do not agree with that statement. Off the top of my head, I can count a plethora of things that are more important to the masses, and they will gladly substitute their rights to be heard or speak for those things. I will argue that there are basically three things that hold existential value to the human race: food, shelter, and clothing. Not until an individual has satisfied these most primitive needs does he seek a higher means of expression or being. And there is one thing that guarantees these three things: MONEY.
Before I go further, I want to establish here that I hate money. I hate what it represents; I hate the systems built around money; and I hate what it makes people do. Unfortunately, money is the closest thing to power. Even if you don't covet power like most people, you still need a semblance of it in the form of money to protect your rights. So understandably, most people would opt for money in almost every single situation, even on Hive.
Even on Hive, stake (money) matters more than free speech. Any Hive whale can silence you if they want. They can do that with downvotes and even upvotes. Most people kick against downvotes as it is the most obvious way to silence or punish people on-chain, but upvotes can be used in the same way. I have conversations with Hivers privately, and most of them cannot freely express their opinions because they do not want to lose the support they get from certain groups or whales. They understand that their financial security (upvotes) is guaranteed by staying away from certain conversations. So if upvotes (distribution) influence people’s behavior, then certainly it is important.
I am aware that there are people who genuinely care about free speech on Hive, but they are in the minority. The Hive token is the single most important part of the blockchain. Is this right? That is a debate for another day, but it is the truth and it is public knowledge. Therefore, if the chain must protect its integrity and it claims to be decentralized and pro-free speech, its distribution must be fair, and every account should have equal representation. This, unfortunately, is impossible for so many reasons.
So Hive has only one option: to appeal to the plutocrats. They hold the power; they control the distribution of the token; and they decide who gets to enjoy the supposed free speech. Unfortunately, this group of people is more concerned about their ROI than anything else, which forces everyone else with stake/interest to think the same way. So at the end of the day, no one here (I know that is a gross generalization) cares about free speech, nor does anyone outside the ecosystem. I understand that free speech and decentralization are hot topics, but people don't care enough about them.
In conclusion, I live in a country where people's rights are trampled upon because they lack financial power. This doesn't happen on the same scale on Hive but it does happen. Stake is power and there are two ways to get it: by buying or pandering to those who have it. This has nothing to do with merit and is purely a social game.