I am the co-founder of the @asapers initiative and I'm also the co-founder/founder of the "Push People To 500 SP"-initiative. Due to my leading role, (note that I'm not calling myself a leader), I feel obligated to talk about this, even though I'd preferred not to do it.
The recent, and on-going war between @fulltimegeek and @berniesanders is probably the hottest news right now, and literally everyone is asking me questions on Discord about it, so instead of talking with people in private, one after another, I've decided to go public.
I am aware of the possible risk of being flagged and punished for doing this, but hopefully, I won't offend anyone, and that's obviously not my intentions with this. I simply thought that it would be easier for me, and for others, if I shared this with everyone. With that being said, I am not interested in more private discussions about this topic after this.
"Terrible News..."
I usually avoid talking about my rewards, even though I've often been open and public about the support I have and how grateful I am for everything my audience have done for me. I suffer from anxiety and panic attacks, and I've suffered from a depression for several years. Despite all of that, I'm trying to push myself against all odds. I became a full time student in March this year and I can barely live off my student loan. In fact, I work extra on top of that and I still struggle to survive.
I have said this before as well, but the rewards I earn from Steemit makes it easier for me in real life. My earnings helps me to pay some of my bills and I have never taken any of the support I have for granted. Even though I cash out some of my rewards, I do everything I can to grow my account, as I truly believe in Steemit and in cryptocurrency. The best part is, that the support I have makes my attempt successful.
I was lucky enough to serve as an SOG (Steward of Gondor), for 10 weeks in total, and I had great results during this time. @fulltimegeek delegated me 5000 Steem Power at first, and shortly after decided to delegate me an additional 1000 Steem Power. I had 6000 Steem Power more than I'd ever had before, and I did my best with my extra power.
I spread my votes across the entire platform and I was able to upvote 1000 articles per week (I missed out by a few votes during 3 of these weeks if I remember correctly). I spread the wealth, and I was able to support hundreds of authors more than I'd ever been able to do prior to the delegation.
It should come as no surprise that it was @fulltimegeek's generosity, mindset and "pay-it-forward"-attitude that inspired me to do something more for others than I had done previously... And the "foundation" of the @asapers project was brought to life due to the immense effect FTG's SOG-initiative had on me. @fulltimegeek inspired me, and he gave me a tremendous motivation-boost with his Stewards of Gondor, and as I got to serve as an SOG, it obviously inspired me even more.
The SOG-initiative got suspended when FTG decided to bring down the troll. When the Haejin war took place, FTG revoked all out-going delegations, as he needed his Steem Power.
The outcome of the war?
I won't go into any details about that. It's for each individual to decide for themselves. I personally think that it was some sort of "half-success". I think it could've gone better, but I'm glad that someone stood up for what he believed was right, and a "half-success" is much better than a complete failure. I think the outcome would've been different if more people would have teamed up and worked together.
Fast-forward some time and we find the FTG-bot-army.
I was one of the "few selected" who received upvotes from @fulltimegeek in different shapes and forms. And I can't even describe how grateful I am for all that support. As an extra bonus, on top of the army-support, I also received a couple of donations from FTG for my live-streams on DLive.
I still, have never taken any of the support for granted, but damn, I've loved each and every second of it, as it has truly helped me out in real life. The insane icing on the cake, is the 420 Steem transfer FTG did to my account. I didn't ask him for it, and the only thing he said in the memo was:
"You can pay me back when the good times come and the shit storm passes :)"
There is no question were my loyalty lies.
No other Steemian have ever been able to help me as much as @fulltimegeek has done... And don't take this the wrong way, because this is definitely not only because of the money or the rewards. The motivation and the inspiration I've been given by and from him... The encouragement, is what truly is the deciding factor.
That being said...
No matter how grateful I am for everything FTG has done for me, I won't take his side on everything he does. And while I'm being honest, let me tell you that I don't agree with everyone he supports either. I have nothing against any of the people I've seen him reward, but I would rather see a handful of other people being rewarded than some of the people he has been rewarding lately. But, that is based on personal preference, and he does whatever he wants with his stake. As you do whatever you want with yours. I also prefer to see him reward others, no matter who he rewards, than to use his entire stake on himself.
However...
Despite these "complaints" of mine, and despite the fact that I won't pick his side at all times, it doesn't mean that I'm against him, because I'm not.
In fact, I can't see the reason for @berniesanders to trash talk @fulltimegeek the way he does, and I can definitely not see why being a flat earth believer or not would make any difference.
If you believe that the sky is red instead of blue, or that the 9/11 incident were due to Trump, Bush or Mahatma Gandhi doesn't matter either. If you believe in reincarnation or unicorns doesn't matter... You are entitled to your beliefs, and I'd never call you a retard, a twat or a loser for believing in god or not. - But hey, we are all different.
I don't like personal attacks, and I've said it many times before... I don't agree with everything @berniesanders does... But, I do believe that he has good intentions.
The ongoing war is terrible news.
The fact is, that no matter if I like @berniesanders shitposts or not, he rewards his audience. Truth to be told, I would rather see bernie's shitposts on trending than @jerrybanfield or @joeparys for instance, because I know that bernie will reward his audience, which is the opposite of these other users.
I do believe that people like @joeparys is bad for Steemit. He is using Steemit as a personal advertising place for his shitty products. And he rakes in tons of rewards at the same time.
- And that's one example.
I have nothing against him as a person, because I don't know him. But I am disgusted by his behaviour and his approach. Much like I hate to see shitposts being rewarded with hundreds of dollars.
However, it's impossible to deny the facts that @berniesanders rewards his audience... And people comment on his articles, no matter how crap they are, because they know that they have a high chance of earning easy rewards.
- This is the case with all whales.
Whales will always attract most engagement on their posts, because they might reward their audience with something more sustainable than I would for instance.
During This War...
I don't receive any more upvotes from FTG's bot-army which obviously have a negative impact on my overall earnings. I have also seen many Steemians that I like and support getting their pending rewards destroyed. From my understanding, bernie will not reward his audience further on due to this war, so the chances of getting rewarded by him is gone too.
I'm not sure how this will affect @helpie, but bernie has previously upvoted my articles due to @helpie so I guess I'll find out as soon as I publish this article...
Needless to say, I am being affected in a very negative way because of this war... And I'm a simple bystander who haven't picked any side. And I'm not alone.
I have seen so much trash talk so I can't even believe my eyes... I have seen newcomers, red fish, minnows... I have seen established Steemians talking shit.
One of the things I reacted to the most were people talking shit about @fulltimegeek because he is some sort of "superhero" on Steemit. A hero with a cape and all.. Wtf?
What I Want People To Realize...
Seriously, you need to understand one thing before jumping to conclusions. People are in general jealous and most of these comments are based on jealousy and anger.
@fulltimegeek might not be a "superhero", but he sure has done way more for Steemit than most of you. The fact that you've never been rewarded by him doesn't make him a bad person. You might disagree with his approach and who he rewards, that's entirely up to you. But you can't talk shit about someone who've dedicated himself to reward as many people as possible with his stake.
@fulltimegeek is not a hero on Steemit due to his flags and downvotes. FTG is considered to be a hero due to his kindness, his generosity and his genuine way to help people. He cares about others... And due to his stake, he is automatically in a position to do more than most of us.
And while we're at it, even though I like the fact that @berniesanders rewards his audience, I'm still against all of his shitposts. As he rewards his audience, he automatically rewards people who doesn't deserve it too. - I'd much rather see bernie reward quality contributions. Article and comment-wise.
People are looking for a quick way to earn some extra rewards, and that's why posts by bernie or any other whale gets engagement. Like it or not, but that's the truth.
- Give me 500,000 Steem Power and I'll prove it to all of you.
The biggest problem here is not the war between these two users... The biggest problem is the current system and the overall behaviour on Steemit. If that would change, there would be less reasons for these wars...
Like I said in a previous comment:
We want this platform to grow. We want to empower people to make this a better place. You both have a bunch of "fanboys" that would follow you straight through hell... And the only thing these sort of wars will accomplish, is to make an even larger gap between people. Please, continue to build roads and bridges instead of destroying them.
These things forces people to make a decision of who to follow, instead of working together.
And that's how I will end this article.
I have not met any of these people in real life, and I have not informed any of them before I published this. I don't agree with everything they do, but I do believe that both users are doing what they believe is for the best. I will not pick a side in this war, but I will always be loyal and grateful for everything @fulltimegeek has done for me.
Now, I'll go back to being a bystander and wait out the storm.