RE: I feel better about Steem today than I have for two months.
Well put, I feel similarly. The writing has been on the wall for the last few months for anyone to read who was motivated to do so.
I had personally been losing faith in Steemit Inc. has shepherds of the platform, something which became undeniable after HF20. This latest statement is the knock out punch, faith value is at zero.
But I too feel counterintuitively and newly optimistic. You see in my opinion Steemit Inc. have been like a pilot who is gradually losing their courage as they get closer to the monster (classic movie trope, take your pick). And at the last second they are compounding some previous bad decisions with a further one. But by jumping overboard they leave open the spot for the crew to step up and take command.
Less allegorically, I have a little more hope now that witnesses might start thinking for themselves and challenging bad ideas with a little more effort than the kind of resigned fatalism we saw in HF20. That's an oar worth putting your back into.
I agree that this is what needs to happen moving forward. Witnesses and users need to take more ownership of the ship. DApps like SteemMonsters are a good example and have raised $1.3mil in the 5-months since launching. This knid of deveopment is sure to attract investors.
All the pieces are in place for more projects like this to step up.
Conversly, losing so many talented devs is disheartening and an opportunity for other projects to lure them into their teams. It's unfortunate this has happened.