Bottomline- it appears that the system may be flawed and some users who have been around long enough have found ways to make it work to their advantage.
I'm relatively new, feel free to correct my understanding of how it works.
Steemit aims to reward quality content.
Quality is defined by upvotes, comments and resteems.
There is a set amount on reward pool- so everyone and anyone posting, in essence, are fighting for a piece of that pie.
Your SP translates to higher $ valuation, or devaluation, of posts you upvote/downvote
A high SP group, collectively supporting each other would then definitely be able to take a bigger share. This is working smart.
A high SP downvote on these contents can somehow put back some balance, and put some money back on the reward pool.
Steemit is just like the world out there- money, power and influence matters most.
What is viewed as a quality post of someone with the means to purchase SP, is rewarded way better than what is viewed as a quality post of an average user.