It's weird that someone who isn't new to Hive can give such a fool advice - to not respond to comments to save RC for publishing next post. Because... first things first. There is a first post, comments to it, reply to comments. And then next post. Besides, you shouldn't publish every day, or twice a day, so the second post can wait for RC to recharge.
Regarding reward.... this is my pain when I see the situation you describe. Platform welcomes you and helps you. Your reward is their votes. Curators have the right to expect that the people they have supported for a long time will eventually become curators themselves, and will support others. That is, they will return value to the platform. "Pay it forward". This is how it works in everyday life. So immediate cashing out looks a little ungrateful.
It is weird but has happened several times. And the worst in this is, when these newbies get to onboard others, this is what they will say to them as this is what they have learnt.
And yes, taking, taking, taking, taking, and asking for more is the new norm. Giving back seems not to be important. It's pretty selfish, but that's the world we're living on. Unfortunately.
Shit spreads quickly 😁
It dos, doesn't it? ☹️
Unfortunately