I know what you're thinking... That is a bold statement. Or perhaps you are debating whether the world even needs saved? If you think it doesn't, then you should probably just stop reading this right now, because I don't intend to dive into all the reasons why it does in this particular post. I simply want to address the potential of Steemit to have an extremely positive effect on the entire world.
In an article I wrote a few weeks ago--The Death of Activism--I shared my thoughts on how traditional methods of activism are becoming more and more redundant in today's society. One of the predominant reasons as to why this is now the case, is censorship. Though many in the Western world are comfortable in their beliefs that each and every person has the right to free speech, any that have been paying attention know that this is in fact complete bullshit.
The truth of the matter is that, your right to free speech is dependent on your lack of influence. If you are someone whose voice is heard by few, then you are welcome to say whatever you want to say. However, if you are someone whose message is reached by a significant amount of ears, then your right to free speech is a lot more debatable.
If you are sharing a message that opposes the status-quo, and you have enough people hearing that message to potentially make a difference, then you are most certainly going to run into some difficulty. That difficulty will often come in the form of censorship. This happens in many forms, but in this post I want to focus on internet censorship specifically.
Whether you have your account banned, your videos flagged, your income pulled or your content hidden with shadow bans--the method of censorship is inconsequential. If steps are being taken to reduce the amount of people that are hearing what you have to say, then your right to free speech has been violated.
The recent pizzagate revelations have produced many examples of internet censorship, with reddit banning /r/pizzagate being the most notable example. Whether you believe pizzagate is real, a hoax or a complete fallacy is irrelevant. People should be able to discuss and investigate whatever they want, especially when it relates to something as important as child trafficking.
This is merely the most recent example of how an unwanted topic of discussion can be quietened, but it is by no means a singular incident. Those in the alternative media have often had to deal with internet censorship because of the truths that some reveal, which contradict the mainstream media's narrative. Because of this, many who would have otherwise received the message intended for them, are kept in the dark and remain oblivious to the deceptions they are faced with on a daily basis.
This is where Steemit can be most useful. Should the independent researchers, truthers and alternative media sources of the world discover and come to Steemit, they may finally get a respite from their battles with censorship. The decentralized nature of Steemit ensures that there is no single agenda being pushed upon the users, and the permanency of the block chain prevents the removal of their posts through censorship.
Yes, there are those who possess a great amount of influence on this site, and they could--if they wanted to--use their STEEM power to downvote posts that they do not want others to see. From what I have seen in my time on Steemit, I have no reason to believe that any of the current whales on this platform have any designs to silence useful information.
there be a mass adoption of Steemit with hundreds of millions of people joining the site (which I believe there will be), and should a mass of alternative media sources find their way to the site and start posting their truths here (which I believe will happen), then there would no doubt be steps taken to censor the information they would be sharing.
Those who seek to silence the voices of particular Steemians would think to join the site, or hire others to do so. They would then fund these accounts with a significant amount of STEEM power and proceed to start downvoting posts that they deemed unsuitable for public viewing.
Steemit once again proves its greatness here. Perhaps unintentionally, Steemit already possesses a defense mechanism for this type of abuse. The transparency you can find here is like nothing you would find in any other ecosystem, and certainly not a government. Any potential shills would be unable to hide key information that would expose them. This could range from the date joined, to comments made and downvotes executed. Before long they would be discovered, and regardless of the influence they hold, it's very unlikely it would be enough to save them from the collective influence that would challenge their decisions once they have been exposed.
So how does this save the world?
Be it willful or blissful, ignorance is rampant in this world. We should not blame those who suffer from this curse, as they have been conditioned since birth to trust their governments and distrust everyone else. An excellent example of this is how hearing the words conspiracy theory now provokes a mental image of a crazy, tinfoil wearing person in the minds of most. These words should have no negative nor positive connotations to them, as they simply mean a theory on a conspiracy. They are not asserting anything as fact, only stating that an idea is held of some potential wrong doing by people who possess power.
Though countless conspiracy theories have been proven to be conspiracy fact, decades of propaganda have conditioned most of the population to instantly dismiss anything they hear after those two words. We are also taught to think less of those who discuss such theories, and think of them as people in need of help. This will never change as long as censorship continues to keep such a large portion of humanity oblivious to the true nature of the world that they live in, and unaware of the purpose that has been stolen from them.
If those sleep walkers made their way to Steemit, the lack of censorship would make sure that they find the truth that has evaded them for so long. Once a certain amount of the population are awake to the unnatural state of the world, we will finally have enough people united in their abhorrence to make the changes in the world that we want to see. Things have only progressed--or should I say regressed--to this point because we have tolerated each and every step they have taken towards here. That has to change, and perhaps if we get the mass-adoption that I am expecting, Steemit can be the conduit for which we begin to unite the people in truth and bring down the web of lies that surrounds us.
FUCK CENSORSHIP
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Author: @son-of-satire
