**A VERY GOOD POST**!! 

Obviously, I'm still new here, but having gotten just a sample of everything wrong on Steemit, my opinion of it has changed, somewhat drastically. Don't get me wrong, I still love it, and it's much 'better' than succumbing to Google, and Facebook's BS. However, what I was initially valuing as one of Steemit's greatest strengths, **TRUE FREEDOM of SPEECH**, may actually be one it's worst features. Sure, you're *free* to post what you want, but as you touched on in your post, it could very well be the end of your Steemit career if you happen to tick-off the wrong individual, or ***gang.*** Especially if you're a *minnow*.

"***...we see some of the same sort of real-world corruption happening here on our beloved STEEM it can be disheartening. Is it just human nature to be self-serving and deceitful?***"  **<--** Never before has so much been said, in so few words.  I'm not a young man, and I've watched the world that existed only in my mind's eye, go from a ***FREEDOM and JUSTICE for ALL*** type of fairy tale, to a massively corrupt, extremely violent, and intensely chaotic place...and getting worse by the day. Is that the way I see the world? Nope, there's still far more positive things going on, than there are negative. When it's ***crunch time***, and people need help, we often see the good side of man, but there's always ample opportunity to see the bad, also.

So, I guess it should be expected that Steemit would function somewhat like our world does, but only on a much smaller scale. It seems very logical to me, at this point. I just don't like the fact that anger/rage, greed, and the abuse of others seems like par for the course, for some on Steemit.

One thing I have learned from well over a half of century on the planet is, when you have more than one person, you're gonna have problems, and those problems grow exponentially with an increase of the population. All living creatures have a survival instinct, and the manifestations of that instinct in humans goes from working hard, and doing the best that you can to take care of yourself, and your family, within the confines of laws and what is considered ethical and moral behavior, all the way up to, '***I'll cut that guy's throat for one Steem!***'

So, what do we do? We do what (most) humans have always done; we continue to grow, to (hopefully) learn from our mistakes, to implement better laws and practices, and for those of us that actually give a shit, continue to try and maintain some sense of normality that is at least more towards ***The Golden Rule,*** than it is complete chaos, and a get ahead **BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY*** mentality.

Lastly, I do believe that the overwhelming majority of people, both on Earth, and this tiny sub-section of mankind called Steemit, are *fundamentally* 'good.' To believe anything else would leave me existing in a state that I wouldn't want to live in.

Again, **A VERY GOOD POST**!! 

Thank You