Thanks for the thoughts smooth. You are correct, the sort of "power creep" that has happened with dan, ned, and steemit inc. placing witnesses in, that they approve of, has effectively given them a lot of influence over the list.

I unfortunately do not think dan will voluntarily stop voting for witnesses, however, as despite suggesting that he will no longer post/vote on steemit, he has already broken this promise. I think it was you who said the community should ratify the development proposals, and you couldn't be more correct. I hope this situation improves in the future.

I will indeed take your advice, and try to take a longer term view, I won't make a rash decision. Yet.