Your generosity is always greatly appreciated! Although you know I'd still come here even if your upvote were worth the same as mine :)

Now that I'm calmed down from yesterday, I read through your reply and through the other one you reference. I can see what you're talking about quite clearly, and it makes perfect sense. It's really only human nature.

I'm not sure if I've shared one of my favorite phrases with you before in your comments threads, but the concept of "rent-seeking behavior" plays out all over the place in our modern economy (and really in most economies over the years, come to think of it!). I see it's little different on Steemit. The idea, if you're unfamiliar, is that rent-seeking is an attempt to

obtain economic gain without reciprocating any benefits to society through wealth creation.
Source

So this has been around for ages, and I agree it's not surprise to find it here.

Interesting that you say my proposal has been repeatedly presented and shot down. I am pretty new around here (4 months here shortly), so I'm not familiar with much of the history or the "lore" of this place. I will say this, though. As someone signing up this year, the possibility of making large sums of money was actually not what attracted me to the site. I think attracting the right kind of individual is key, but then again, I'm not claiming to be incorruptible. Maybe one day "it" will get to me too and you'll see me cranking out garbage after figuring out a way to profit off it :P But I agree some care has to be made to portray this site for what it is. Only the most naive people think they can jump on YouTube and start making thousands of dollars a month. It needs to be the same here. And I guess you still have the same dynamic even on YouTube, where some of the longest tenured creators are putting out ridiculous content (look up Jake Paul controversy if you want to see what I'm talking about) and they still manage to pull in tons of cash in spite of it. So I guess it's not surprise that the grass isn't any greener elsewhere.

Kudos to you for staying true to yourself and continuing to put out thoughtful and interesting posts each day.