I came across this after something triggered my @ginabot notifications (yes, @ginabot is back online, if you haven't tried, it's awesome!).
It's a shame to see these two steemians spending their energies on this conflict.
@fulltimegeek came to my aid when most others looked away. So you don't have to guess where my loyalty is.
I just hope this doesn't escalate and is resolved.
As for using your SP to upvote yourself, everyone is free to do that, but by the same token, everyone is free to flag what they perceive to be low value content. Two sides of the same crypto coin.
If somebody wants to support a project, they can delegate to it or upvote their posts. Creating posts and upvoting yourself only adds to the problem.
And yes, if you invest in steem, you should upvote others. Thats how you create real long term value. You give people who put energy and effort into creating content a reason to carry on doing so here on the steem blockchain.
If everyone just upvotes themselves, then we might as well just take our stakes and invest it into a master node or some other passive income Crypto. It just shows proof that there is no brain, just short term thinking. Without growth in its user base, steem will be dead in the water and slowly decline. Then all that steem you hold will be worthless
So the question is, do you want to hold less of something that will have more value because it's a stake in a growing community. Or do you accumulate as much as you can and increase your stake in a slower growing asset or even worse, a declining one.
I think @dhenz and @nathanmars put it best when they talk about using their stake to grow the community, so they can get return of multiples, rather than a short term ROI.
Anyway, that's my view. Flag or upvote as you see fit!