Courtesy of Google & Guy Williams
"All animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others." ~George Orwell, Animal Farm
I am a firm believer in the free marketplace of ideas. By that I not only mean that I am against censorship, but that the validity (worth) of ideas will flourish by their own merit, or fall by the wayside. In other words, a democracy of ideas. John Stuart Mill wrote eloquently about the Democracy of ideas in his seminal piece, On Liberty:
"The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error."
This principle holds true in allowing a disparate amount of power to a few individuals who hold the "purse strings" as applied to the up and down voting of rewards. In a true democracy, the worth of ideas should be judged by everyone, not a few who have garnered power. That is an oligarchy. Far be it from me to tell someone how to run their business. However, if you start a social media platform and disguise your motives as democratic and it is not, your business will not last. I came to Steemit with high intentions...I thought I had found a platform where quality was rewarded not governed. I have since stopped encouraging my friends to come on here.
I believe that Steemit will last until someone else develops a similar platform and runs it democratically. I've built several businesses and my philosophy has always been to find out what the competition is doing and do it better. Sooner or later (sooner, I believe) someone will come along and learn from Steemit's mistakes. Ultimately, the free marketplace of ideas will prevail. Some animals may think they are more equal than others, but it is never permanent.