Question originally asked on Musing.io - Click here to see other answers
First, steem blockchain never down, it just get congested, which result in some transactions/operation not getting through. The official api site is also down quite often, bu there is so many alternatives.
When you say steemit is down, there is still other way to access it, the steemit staging site, yehey.org by 
Imagine when Facebook is down, do you have other way to access it?
The answer is No, because they are a centralised authority, where you have no access to the site or carry out any operations.
This is where blockchain shines. Even if the country block a certain site, you still can access it through another site. YOU CAN'T BAN BLOCKCHAIN (unless it is North Korea).