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The Man Cave

"End of the Road" for @roleerob?

roleerob@roleerob (71)897d

First and foremost an investor, I was introduced to the potential of this blockchain in 2017.  In an investment newsletter ...

After some DYOR and reflection, I made my first investment days later.


I will cite "divine intervention" for help finding this picture. Almost perfect!
Sources: Creator dassel on Pixabay   •   Creator Fritz on Pixabay

So ... I "aped" in and made a "big splash," right?  No ...  I am the exact opposite of a "degen-brained" investor.  I started small, by design, to then further investigate and go from there ...


Source: "Genesis Block" of @roleerob's Steem Hive blockchain "journey"

    • Note well:  For which I paid how much?  0.1 ETH @ $332.01 at the time => $1.476 / STEEM HIVE, for a total of $33.35.  Along with an exorbitant fee of 0.000441 ETH => $0.146.
      • If I had remained on the Steem blockchain?  At recent prices (~$0.37 / Steem), my huge initial investment would be worth $8.32!  A loss of ~75%
      • If I had simply HODLed my ETH instead?  At recent prices (~$4,000 / ETH), it would be worth ~$400.00!  A ~12X gain!  A wiser investment for keeping my hard-earned $$s ahead of inflation.  And a much wiser investment of my time ...
      • "Ohhh, wait!  I know!!  I'll be a "smart money" investor
        and BUY HIVE TODAY (@ ~$0.46 ea.) with my 0.1 ETH, right?  Which would now result in having ~870 HIVE instead of my "genesis block" amount above?"
          That is a hard "No!"  Why?  I would expect similar results to the above, or worse, if I were writing this 6 years from now.


Fiercely protective of my "pseudo-anonymity," I initially elected to invest only and never publish at all.

"From a small seed a mighty trunk may grow."

"This insightful quote by the Greek tragedian, Aeschylus, encapsulates the potential and power of growth that lies within seemingly insignificant beginnings."


Yep, after a quick glance at my "genesis block" investment ...  "Seemingly ... insignificant ... beginnings ...?"  No question of that.

Applying my standard DCA discipline to my investments, however, that grew over time, leading to my fateful decision to further "support" my investment.  How?

Increase "user adoption," by establishing my first ever (having sworn I never would ...) online presence.  From which I could begin writing my own posts, once I finished reading up on what was required / expected ...


Source: "Genesis Block" of @roleerob's work to

add value
to the Steem Hive blockchain.

Which has just concluded with the payout on the last of my 10-post "Road Less Traveled" series.  Series cumulative stats:

  • HP Paid out - 163.801
  • HBD Paid out - 463.262
  • Upvotes received - 6,511 worth a cumulative total at payout of $331.06
Hmmm. Appears that my
added value
  "quality content" earned a 👍 ...  Or two ...
    • Note well: This series was part of my private motivation for resuming publishing, as I place a high value on the opportunity to provide links to my children and grandchildren.  Having started it, I was determined to finish it, before writing this post.


Over the years, since I began writing in May 2018, I have made numerous references to my "journey."  With this post serving as my last publication on the Hive blockchain, that "journey" is coming to an end.

Hopefully, what I have just presented above addresses the oft-made point :

"What?!  Leaving?  They are just whiny because of their ?...? rewards ..."

No.  If anything, I can imagine, from my experience "in here," there might be a few of my fellow Hivians asking something like the opposite:

"Wow!  I wish I ?...?  What is that guy's problem?"

"Funny" you should ask.  It has nothing to do with money, earned in a "free market" (cough, cough) ...  It has everything to do with principle.

"What is this all about then, @roleerob?"

Here you go (click on the images)...


Conclusion of my appealing HW's

destruction of value

Resulting in this post ...

    • With preliminary "end of the road" steps taken, shortly after clicking on "Reply" ...


Authority, Accountability, and Alignment

Successful in 5 different industries, over my long professional career, managing teams of people from 1984 to my retirement, how many times and in various ways did I discuss my "A" words listed in this header?

Too many to count ...

As succinctly as I can manage, under the circumstances, I will now do my best to apply those life lessons to this final post, with an appeal to the Hive blockchain's ... "powers that be."

Do I present it as though in a courtroom engaged in a legal proceeding involving injustice?  Or in a boardroom meeting with the Board facing charges of "corporate malfeasance?"  In my mind, in this "virtual world," it is a bit of both.

So ...

You be the judge.

The Appeal

The "efforts" of @hivewatcher, @hivewatchers, @hivewatch, @hivewatcher2 ..., backed by DHF Funding, to address ... "abuse" ... is badly in need of serious reform.

Among other aspects of the problem and central to this being my final post, is the injustice of "judgment rendered" ...

for which any aggrieved party,
has no

effective means
to appeal!
Full stop. Period.

Yes, I agree there is a legitimate problem to be addressed and some good has been done, as a result.

No, as should be self-evident, I do not agree with anything along the lines of, "the good outweighs the bad!"  How many "deposits" into your "good will bank account," from positive efforts, is wiped out of "your good will bank account", by ONE negative effort?

Is the ratio 5:1?  10:1?  20:1? ...

"Not fair!"  Right.  That's life.  It does not change what I just said ...  Failing to acknowledge that has resulted in ...

Consequences:

  • Damage done to the investment of my time and money into
    adding value
    to the Hive blockchain that is no longer acceptable.

Recommendations:

  • Figure out, ideally in the very near future, what constitutes a "black and white" (good) case of "abuse."  With which you will find all but universal agreement.

    • Clue: I am "on record," as helping, when the above was predominantly true. I left, when it wasn't ...

  • Maximize "restraint" in "judging" what is a "gray area" (potentially bad) case, with some required humility and introspection, when your "judgment" clearly runs counter to that of other investors in this blockchain!

  • Provide for a legitimate means of appealing these "judgments."  What is in place now is ?...?  I'll leave it to others to fill this in, as they deem best ...  Clearly, for me, it is not good / close enough.  Nor can the word appeal be properly applied to it.

The Board / Court / "Judge"

I will now make a notable exception to what I have long known violates Hive ... "etiquette."  I will "name names" ...

    • I'll only list the account names of the top 7 supporters of DHF Funding for Proposal #293.  Without which the votes of everyone else is ?...?   Feel "free" to characterize, as you may wish, dear reader ...

@blocktrades, @abit (@adm), @pharesim, @azircon, @smooth, @anyx, @roelandp:

In this "virtual world," you have been assigned authority, based upon the size your investment.

Other than two very simple questions, I will not waste my time or yours, with a "text wall" which won't matter ...  The questions, related to even a cursory glance over anything I have written here, are:

When was the last time you invested
any of

your time
in evaluating the
performance of your "staff?"

Be honest in your answer.  Ideally, "out in the light" for the rest of the Hive blockchain to witness.  Do you not have a "stewardship responsibility" for holding them accountable?  And, in so doing, ensuring they are in alignment with what they are supposed to be doing?

    • The instance leading to this post being written was not found in your "staff's" Hive Watcher report for Feb 2024.  I obviously have no way of knowing how common an oversight like this is ...

To the extent you have invested some time:

Are you in

agreement?

(with what has been
done under your authority
and in your name!)

"Don't bring up a problem, without recommending a solution!"

You have been presented with mine.  For the sake of the good people who depend on your wisdom, discernment, and judgment, I hope it might play some small role in serving its intended purpose ...

The Shareholders / Witnesses / Jury

Addressing a simple question to the current all-important (to the Hive blockchain ...) Top 20 Witnesses:

@arcange, @gtg, @blocktrades, @stoodkev, @steempeak, @ausbitbank, @good-karma, @themarkymark, @therealwolf, @yabapmatt, @deathwing, @roelandp, @ocd-witness, @quochuy, @smooth.witness, @abit, @guiltyparties, @threespeak, @emrebeyler, @pharesim:

Is this

okay?

(Particularly asked of
those of you on both lists)

In response, if you are in any way in the "Complicit" or "Complacent" categories cited below, then just add my account to the "collateral damage" list and carry on with your day!

"Nothing to see here!  Move along ..."


With only a very crude form of governance currently in place, all of the rest of us are "witnesses," to how well that is working.  And, perhaps more important, to how effectively anything remotely close to "continuous improvement" efforts are going, to enhance the value of our investments "in here."

You are now "witness," dear reader, to my assessment.

My only regret is losing the associations formed over time, with a diverse group of people, spread all across our big, wide world.  It is the remarkable strength of that ... "holding power" ... which has kept me going up until now.

I genuinely and sincerely wish you all the best, for a better tomorrow!


Responses to Appeal

To close out this post, I will classify everyone into one of the three following categories, with respect to the "central theme" of my last post:

Complicit

At a minimum, those actively voting in favor of DHF Funding (at $290 HBD / day!), for this ... "abuse."

In addition, we find all those who give "hearty approval" to how wonderfully well the "central theme" of my final post is going, in enhancing the investment value of their stake  in the Hive blockchain.  At the "expense" of damaging that of far too many others ...

It is highly unlikely anyone in this category has read this far.  Or even opened this post ...

Complacent

The "silent majority's" opinion / position / ?...? default response?  Covers most everyone else, outside of "Complicit" with various versions of more or less the same thing:

"Well ...  That's not right, but ...  At least it didn't happen to me ...

"Just keep your head down ..."

And on and on it goes ...

Conviction

Doing nothing is no longer an option, for me.  In life, dear reader, what has been your experience with:

  • Abusive personal relationships, in all of there various forms ...

  • Abusive "Almighty State" relationships, in all of its various forms ...

  • Abusive "corporate malfeasance" relationships, in all of its various forms ...

What, if anything, do these share in common, by way of how people can be driven to finally respond?  In all of the various forms it takes, many people do what they can:

... to "vote with their feet" and
get

out!


There is an unmistakable sadness and heaviness of heart I feel in reaching this decision.  I had not lightly reached my recent decision to resume posting, as I know what it takes.

After the completion of my latest travel-related series, I was going to resume my "Back to Eden" gardening series, as I really enjoy the simple things in life.  And I know there are very solid people in that community, deserving whatever I could do in my small way to support and encourage ...

But ...  No ...  HW's malignant efforts not only reappeared, but they did so ... "right up in my face!" There was a time when I attempted to derive sufficient benefit over and above these value destroying actions to keep going, in spite of it.

I am unwilling to do that anymore.  As an investor, I believe "money flows to where it's treated best" ultimately.  And I have better things to do with my time ...

    • Although an occasional POL ("proof of life") comment might appear here and there ...


End of the Road

Wait, @roleerob!  The title of your post here ends with a question mark?  True.  By design.  See my comment (strike 1, 2, 3 ...) below, if interested, for details.

As this post has presumably made clear enough, however, I have all but zero thought this post will make any difference whatsoever.  And have acted accordingly ...

Otherwise, I have done what I believe to be right, in an attempt to potentially help those who choose to remain active here.  And I leave in peace.

Until "next time," all the best to you for a better tomorrow, as we you all work together to build up our your Hive Communities and add increasing value to our your Hive blockchain! 👍 😊

While @hivewatcher, @hivewatchers, @hivewatch, @hivewatcher2 ..., backed by DHF Funding (at $290 HBD / day!) and absent seriously needed reforms, actively ... "manages" ... to destroy it. 👎😔

Respectfully, Blogger @roleerob

“Immutably enshrined” in the Hive blockchain on Wednesday, 13 March 2024!
🌲 No trees were harmed in the publishing of this post! 🌲

Distributed to the communities in which I was most active, with rewards

declined
.

Comments · 16

  • @albuslucimus(69)· 820d

    Wow man, you’ve definitely got a way with words and a strong argument. I hope for things to be the best they can, and hopefully you will keep your account in case you ever have a change of heart!

  • @valued-customer(75)· 832d

    I'm sad to finally see this post, but glad you linked it in the post about HW where I saw it.

    Free speech is infinitely - existentially - valuable. Far more valuable than money.

    The problem Hive has is it's a plutocracy, and the real value of social media, which has rapidly become the largest financial sector in world markets, isn't the actual value best rewarded. Instead mere mammon is assigned that value, which draws pirates and profiteers.

    Thanks!

  • @vimukthi(76)· 835d

    It is sad to see you leave and it is even sadder to see this toxic behaviour supported by DHF. I have written many times about how we are using DHF wrong. I have seen many good projects get ignored while problematic operations such as Hivewatchers keep receiving funding.

    If these were individual actors, these actions could be justified by saying that it is the stake they bought/earned for themselves. A community funded account on the other hand is a disgrace to the entire community. Best of Luck for your future!

  • @hivebuzz(74)· 846d

    Congratulations @roleerob! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain And have been rewarded with New badge(s)

    You distributed more than 230000 upvotes.
    Your next target is to reach 240000 upvotes.

    You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

    Check out our last posts:

    Our Hive Power Delegations to the April PUM Winners
    Feedback from the May Hive Power Up Day
    Hive Power Up Month Challenge - April 2024 Winners List
  • @indextrader24(75)· 893d

    The answer to your question is 100:1 up to 200:1.

    The Hivewatchers and their gang around Mark Jeftovic are a criminal acting Gang - thieves of money and lifetime.

  • @freecompliments(73)· 895d

    It's very unfortunate to read this. Your content is solely your own and has your unique voice all over it - I could recognize your writing without seeing your name! The fact that HiveWatchers and co. can choose to target someone like you is simply unfathomable and despicable. Whatever good they may have done in the past... the scales have greatly tipped over to the other side. Not to mention, it's largely run by one person who loves having this power, and completely lacks empathy for other people as evidenced by my interactions with them. No one person should have so much power to destroy others on this blockchain.

    I do hope that you "proof of life" comments will be frequent, as you definitely do provide value here. By the majority, you are appreciated.

    Edit: I just saw you mention below that it was on behalf of someone else that you saw was downvoted that you're resigning. The sentiment does remain the same.

  • @ganjafarmer(76)· 895d

    There needs to be repercussions for all of the personal vendetta's and all the wrongful reports that have been placed by Hive watchers as well as attacking the entire community. This is only one of the bad actors in a huge list.

    I just had the same thing happened and had an entire week's worth of rewards completely removed as well as being threatened for simply expressing my opinion.

    Oh yeah how about the wrongful blacklist reports that blacklisted me and all of my accounts. And at the same time also attacked a completely innocent user and blacklisted their account at the same time. All because that report said it was mine...

    So Hive watchers can do what they want and get paid two grand a week? To destroy the entire community. And run massive amounts of members off...

    This backstabbing behavior has continued and just like acid yo just got mad and destroyed all of my earnings for a week? It's paid to continue.

    I have lost faith in the blockchain! I'm coming up on 7 years and I have now realized that this community has backstabbed itself into failure. Once upon a time we had a massive amount of community and they've all been run off. You can actually go look at the people who vote for me and the far majority of the auto votes are actually individuals that have been run off the blockchain...

    Instead of actually putting some work together to clean everything up? These abuse communities just proceed to exercise financial terrorism and harassment...

    @freecompliments is a group that's been having to clean up the mental health issues that these people have delivered to the hive community. And gotten attacked by hw for their work.

    Yep that's right the group leading the mental health initiative? Was attacked by hivewatchers!

    Circle jerks and broken terms of service.

    In fact these abusive groups need to be Frozen and blocked out.. these individuals need to be blacklisted from the entire blockchain forever. Hive Pakistan dlmmbq hive watchers and all the other groups that have been involved in supporting those that break the terms if service.

    Here on hive you can actually have violent stalkers Mass message the most horrible things on your content. Then they get rewarded and supported for doing so? The fact that there is absolutely no penalty for breaking the terms of service?

    Something needs to change or this entire blockchain is going to get ran into the ground. Personally I think this thing is about as beached as an entire whale.

    And it really sucks because I've spent nearly 7 years busting my butt building communities here on the blockchain...

    But what have I gotten? Abused and harassed. Bullied. And demonetized.

    Hive is now a insiders club. If you are OCD or someone's pet? You can get rewards. For everyone else? It's dog eat dog. You have self-proclaimed blockchain snitches and secret police befriending you just to write wrongful blacklist reports to get you kicked off...

    Or you could be one of the suck up members of these whale groups... Get some scraps if you beg hard enough.

    It's not about quality content. It's about politics and ego for hive these days.

    And it's absolutely horrifying. Especially after having such an amazing community when this fork took place. And now?....

    You aren't going to be the first or the last, or the middle...

    I've joined you. In fact if I'm not following you I am now. I'll find a comment that's monetized and vote you. Before the powerdown hits.

    But yeah I'm pulling my investment and I'm not going to be trying to recruit. I'm not going to put more effort into building the blockchain and educating more people on how to invest here in the blockchain with the rewards that you're already getting. I'm just giving up!

    I do have around 7 Grand maybe 8! I'm homeless and I could really use the money.

    Seeing how the entire blockchain is sinking I might as well pull what I've got while the price is up there....

    There's no future in saving it if exactly what happens to you continues to happen to the entire community....

  • @themarkymark(81)· 897d

    hivewatcher tshirt.png

  • @enforcer48(75)· 897d

    Lol $290 a day to curb “abuse” worth much less than that per day.

  • @crypticat(74)· 897d

    I did the opposite Steem -> Fork -> Sell all Steem and Hive to buy $150>ETH.

    Feeling pretty good about that decision. Hive requires a lot of work for a mediocre return. The inflation is nuts for a blockchain that has limited users and as other people said, some of the proposals in the DAO can only be described as idiotic. Instead of burning all the excess Hive which I submitted a proposal for, (it was soundly rejected because people can't math), they inflated Hive and all my predictions about future price came true.

    Luckily I put my money where my mouth was.

  • @slobberchops(82)· 897d

    I don't see them flagging your stuff, am I missing something? I don't make a habit of trawling the HW discord.

  • @memess(63)· 897d

    Bro casually dropped the realest post of the year

  • @melinda010100(80)· 897d

    Prevailing is hard! After rather nasty notes from them when I have attempted to defend Ecencians that they are attacking, I now ignore them at all costs and keep my head down. Nothing would make me happier than to see a fair and just system of defending the blockchain from true scammers. New users need clearly displayed rules about what is acceptable and what is not!

  • @jfuji(71)· 897d

    I agree with elements of reform needed in anti-abuse efforts broadly, with HW being the obvious big fish in the mix.

    In this list of various growth initiatives (relevant part: user retention via more structured anti-abuse), I suggest that we need:

    Anti-abuse efforts

    • [Docs] Definitions of abuse
    • [Docs] Processes for reporting abuse
    • [Docs] Hive’s philosophy re: censorship resistance
    • [Tech] Systems (public or private) for detecting abuse
    • [Docs] Processes for appeals
    • [Docs] Fairness oversight
    • [Docs] How anti-abuse coordinates with onboarding efforts
    • [Data] Key performance indicators (measuring anti-abuse effectiveness)

    Curious to know your thoughts.

  • @themarkymark(81)· 897d

    Hive Watchers is a shit show, and them getting $300/day is a joke. Before they got their proposal approved, they were self voting 60-90 comments/day for $2+ each, while downvoting people who did the same thing with 10 cents and $10 downvotes. I've been doing a bulk of their job downvoting real abuse for years that they "allow".

  • @roleerob(71)· 897d

    The title of my post ends with a question mark. Why? Very (to me) simple.

    Even though long overdue and hope fades, there is still the off chance something is actually done to fix the issue covered in this post.  If word reaches me this has happened and I can confirm it, I might be tempted to reconsider.

    Note well, I said "actually done."  Not talked about ...  Again ...  As it seems to be endlessly discussed, but nothing changes ...

    As a result?  The "end of the road" for my Hive blockchain journey is right in front of me.

    "You're just a quitter, @roleerob?"

    Think so? Let's see ...

    Strike 1:

    The investment advice leading me to being "in here" in the first place?  It was followed up by "get out" advice a long time ago ...

    Quote: "... but they’re not growing the way I envisioned they would."


    Sell
    Alert on 22 Feb 2021

        • Hive:
          Then: $0.279
          Today: $0.462 (even with a big uptick in last couple of weeks ...)

        • Steem:
          Then: $0.542
          Today: $0.374

    But ...  Did I listen?  No!  No.  No ...  I stayed, due to the remarkable "holding power" of what I had experienced, as detailed in this post ...

    I should have listened ...

    Strike 2:

    This post references the "last straw" ..."  Were there any ... "previous straws?""  What would be your first guess, dear reader?"  Unbeknownst to most, these "previous straws" led to my starting to power "down and out" about a year ago.

    Which I stopped 1/3 of the way through it.  However ...  I did not resume posting.

    Strike 3:

    As written about elsewhere, after not publishing anything for 1-½ years, I was motivated to resume, on January 21st.

    " Hope for the best. Plan for the worst ..."

    How long did that last?

    • Until HW's "in my face" comment , on Feb. 16th ...  My appeal failed to ... "make a dent" ...  That is it for me ...

    • As a result?  My +6 year "journey" is now ending.


      Source: Personal tab on Hive.Buzz

      1. My "career" KPI #1, in my view?  5,903 comments.  207 posts.  +28X more written in support of
        adding value
        to the work of others, than my own.

    So ...  Am I a quitter?  You decide ...

    For the sake of the good people who remain active on the Hive blockchain, I hope you all experience the long-standing "gridlock," on mission-critical issues like the one covered in this post, finally being broken and your long-suffering patience and hard work being better rewarded.  You deserve it!

    👋  ❤️  👋


    P.S. @hivewatcher, @hivewatchers, @hivewatch, @hivewatcher2 ...  If "you" are willing to accept this amendment to your "in my face" comment , on Feb. 16th ...

    "You have been wasting your curation upvoting this account time ..."

    ... then we are finally in agreement.  I know!  I know ...  I was (more than?) a little slow in "getting it," but you have prevailed.  Well done!

    P.P.S. Underscoring a central point of my last post here, if "you" had been part of any team I ever managed, "you" would be "happily" unemployed right now.  Freed up to carry on with finding some other place in life, for which your "time and talent" are better suited ...