Agreed! It’s centralized around hubs instead of being truly distributed. Why isn’t an “instance” a set of users with an identical config file based on the agreed upon moderation/federation? Why do I have to join a single server that can go down repeatedly? It is giving up yhe advantages of cloud/distributed services.
I think we can do better: nobody who doesn’t work X nunber of hours per week can own stock. That’s how law firms organized as S-Corps do it. Even if the decisionmakers hardly do real work, they have to be at work to gain on their investment. But also, no golden parachutes and executives should be legally responsible for suffering and death from their policies.