Mate, thanks for your comment and sharing your perspective. I believe there are many people like you who are feeling similar frustrations. It just so happens you have come of age in the midst of a very imbalanced and unfair system. But we have reason to feel very optimistic, just as @conspi-theorist shares below. What's coming is just a necessary correction back to true price discovery of asset values. The road will be bumpy, but better days lie ahead.
Getting crap pay for a lot of work on Steemit can be really frustrating. I felt it a few months ago. But try to see it not as time wasted, but an investment in your own skill and a necessary part of building your following. Low payouts are not a reflection of your personal worth.
My encouragement to you is to keep improving yourself. Keep writing and developing your skills. You have many productive income earning years ahead of you and time to prepare yourself for whatever changes are coming. Don't do what many are doing in your generation - looking to the government to be the saviour. Take responsibility for your own future. Grab it by the balls and lay hold of your own slice of the next wave of economic prosperity, one that I believe will reward any and all who have the vision to create and solve human problems.
You're a bad mofo @shredlord. You were here on Steemit long before the rest of the world. Keep the faith!