a Ponzi scheme is an investment operation where the guys on top get paid from the guys below.
If you replace "from" with "at the expense of" or "reducing the income of" or even "while greatly annoying" then these pyramid structures become visible everywhere, and they include, ever increasingly, companies, and also Steemit, as the clusterfuck the Trending-Page circle jerk has become demonstrates.
It seems to be inevitable whenever money is involved, so best, like you say, be aware of your place in it and act accordingly.
Applying circle-jerk standards to this post, or even meritocratic ones, it should make $600 at least. You are definitely not in the best bit of the pyramid! You need to start kissing arse 8-P.
I think at some point those who delegate their power will come to understand that some people simply don't car about the platform but feeling their own pockets. I know whales with power that don't publish daily and rather take their "share" of rewards without draining the pool. Most though do exactly like you are saying. Best I can do is send this comment to the top.
Thank you for your appreciation. I 've seen many posts like mine getting cents, much like I used for almost a year. If I had power I would reward them. Curators should read and comment everything they upvote. I think this is how value will be show and appreciated. Otherwise, we are just chasing away the chicken with the golden eggs. People will fly away and talk about their bad experience.
Unfortunately, this is the case, but maybe the next hardfork will make things a bit more level. But I absolutely agree that the type of value aggregation at top of pyramids of all sorts at an expense at the base is ubiquitous around this.
Would a hard limit on the max a post could earn be a step in the right direction?
Why I never . . . I thought "Bobby catches a frog" was worth the $600.00 it made :)