Thank you @paulag, for this valuable debrief. One of the best “real world” posts I have seen on the Steem blockchain. I appreciate the “straight up” presentation and not hiding from what some may perceive as “cold, hard” facts which they may wish to avoid / ignore.

Why do I say that?

Because there are some “hard questions” which any long-term “active participant” runs into “in here,” if they are paying any attention whatsoever. And you ask some of them. Here is a big one, at least for me:

”In fact for every 1 new STEEM we generate 1.6 STEEM is leaving the platform. Could this have been why STEEM prices haven’t rallied like some of the others and we have slipped back down to rank 50 on Coinmarketcap?”

For many, such as myself, who have chosen to invest in the Steem blockchain, this is not a trivial observation. I had it myself, over the last few days, noting perhaps the so-called “crypto winter” is maybe (wishful thinking?) about over. Do we see STEEM and SBD rise with the “incoming tide?” Everyone will come up with their own answer …

In addition to all you have to say here in this post, there are some “undesirable” aspects of the Steem blockchain. Two quickly come to mind – 1) Pathetically destructive nature of “flag wars” … and 2) Abuses of “bid bots” and similar activities. Both can lead to a perception of an element of injustice, when they are encountered, on the Steem blockchain. Which, for the moment, there is no effective remedy. Hard for me to imagine issues of this type don’t also lead to some of the outcomes you highlight here in your post.

Finally, we can all read the comment that @fitinfun chose to invest the time to write, to gain some valuable “real world” perspective on why many here on the Steem blockchain may not be … uhhh … “following the script.” My own experience has been with a number of our fellow Steemians, who are living through the nightmare in Venezuela. For similar reasons to what @fitinfun lays out, they are much more day-to-day in their focus than we might realize.

Overall, to close, I will say that there are also positives about the Steem blockchain. The communities and the associations we form with others is absolutely essential. As I wrote recently in the PIFC community’s first anniversary post, without them I, for one, would be very unlikely to still be actively involved with the Steem blockchain.

Upvoted and resteemed. Thank you again @paulag, for writing this!