I've been looking at my witness votes lately and it just kinda sucks.
I've got like 15 votes unused, and I'm basically just voting the top people for no particular reason.
The recent APR debates have given me my first reason for actually engaging in a long, long time.
That's kind of annoying for a few reasons:
My vote is like one of the only ones going on, thus making zero difference. Nobody would even notice if I didn't write this blog and even then, only 7 people will notice if I'm lucky.
I actually like the people I'm unvoting in every other way, whether it's personally or what they're doing for the blockchain.
I just don't see any alternatives worth voting in their stead.
So really I'm just changing my votes as a miniscule way to express my disagreement with the one topic of lowering APR. I don't think lowering to 15% will do any damage, I just think it's not going to do any good either, and it feels like blowing the candle out when you walk into a burning room.
Not the best of comparisons but whatever.
The thing is, I wouldn't remove my vote for a politician if I happened to disagree with one single issue. I'd change my vote when there is a preferred candidate in a highly competitive environment. I'd be watching their campaign videos and debates on why this person sucks and that person is great.
But here on Hive, there's none of that. It's just a bunch of witnesses who are all apparently perfectly content with where they are forever, all doing a wonderful job, silently.
There's almost no incentive whatsoever for anyone in the democratic process to actually engage in it, meaning it's functionally a dictatorship by default. Imagine a democratic nation whose people simply don't engage at all. The leader gets forced into dictatorship like it or not because there's simply nobody else to take his place. Bizarre!
So I'm going to force myself to engage, and the only criteria I really see so far is the latest APR debate. I disagree, so I unvote anyone signaling 15% or under. That means unvoting two accounts I truly value and appreciate, OCD and Blocktrades (note, I wouldn't do this as a whale, that kind of vote strength serves a different, greater purpose which needs proportionate levels of consideration)
If the whole democracy here was a bit more alive, I would certainly keep my vote since everything else I know about them, I fully support. And now I have to contend with the fact that there is basically nobody else to vote for instead.
What I want to see
More activity from lower-ranked witnesses. You guys are practically invisible, and I suspect most of you are doing literally nothing other than releasing blocks.
I want to see people discuss some new APR ideas. I like the idea of having HBD savings function as a bank's savings account. Keep your money in longer, get higher APR. Want instant access? Sure, but low APR.
I want to see a front page with flashy propaganda telling every pleb like me what each witness is doing in 50 words or less.
I want to hear from up-and-coming underdogs of the witness world
I want to hear dissenting views on the direction of Hive moving forward
I want to see active debates between witnesses about their views on things like changing the 13-week power down rule, instant sign-ups, yadda yadda, that idiots can understand.
I want to hear how the witnesses help incentivize the average web2 entrepreneur into plonking themselves onto an obscure blockchain instead, or at least exploring both.
I want to know why this witness is better than that one. Faster? More reliable? more business savvy? more technically educated? Like, who are any of you anyway?
How are you helping initiatives that do start up here to succeed? Small ones just as much as big ones?
If I had all of this shoved in my face against my will, I'd be actively witness voting every week.
But until then, my vote has to be almost completely arbitrary. And I'm sure some of this stuff is already going on. It's just terribly marketed so that even though I'm browsing here every day, I just don't see anything.
I think messing with the witnesses positions of power is a pretty good way to get the blood flowing in this place. Give 'em a kick and watch 'em squirm.
Tbh, this was the true value in @berniesanders
Hopefully some more people will start engaging and create some competition, let's go!
As a quick addendum to this, I'd like to emphasise how important I think it is that we know who these witnesses are on a deeper level. Knowing the quality of the people running the place is a huge indicator of their virtues and vices which in turn tells us whether their direction of the platform long term falls in line with our own visions.
This goes beyond whether or not they support free speech and mo' money. I would sooner vote for a witness who can cite relevant philosophers, than one who posts daily Lizzo lyrics.
I'd trust somebody with a masters degree in a relevant subject or somebody who can hold their own in a live discussion than one who uses money to get the job done, because one is in their position after years of slogging away at their craft and carving their own identity, while the other inherited funding from a higher being and holds no loyalty, likely jumping ships when the profits fade.
It's also important to allow anonymity. Unlike the world of politics I wouldn't expect people's identities to be a necessary factor. I only care about three things; raw ability, ambition, and their character as a whole.