The system was designed such that curation is absolutely integral to the end goal of finding what is valuable, and what is not
I agree which is why, I wrote in the post above:
The goal should be that the "maximization of earnings" model is through creation and curation.
But, due to the last 2.5 years on the platform where this was not happening and due to those who benefited heavily from the start but chose not to distribute, the goal is not here yet and without change, it will never be within reach. This is change.
If you believe bid bots do any bit of good on this platform (clearly you do as the majority of your stake is delegated to one), then you wouldn't take that opportunistic stance to make unsubstantiated (and hypocritical) claims about how she ran her bid bot.
It is a question of resource allocation. Do I let those who pillage take the Steem for themselves in ever increasingly powerful circles or for extraction, or do I play the long game? After a long time publicly and loudly expressing my views against bidbots, I chose to help develop one that is a steppingstone to something better. Whitelisted and filled with creatives, non-profit so it can maximize returns to both buyers and delegators and, one that is still looking toward a maximization through content and curation. And, I have openly talked of my involvement in all of this many times and in many ways.
So, while you may not agree with what I do, my investment into the community is consistently going up.
You can disguise it in a plethora of ways but at the end of the day, you are contributing to the same result as the people you voice concern over.
The results are far from in, but since I have spent a great deal of time over the last 2 years advocating for more randomization of outcome, things are finally moving in that direction. The vote stability that you and your circle have been living with for however long is hopefully coming to an end and then, you like most other people will have to compete for attention and attract actual support.
As you stated:
yes, a person's behaviour on the blockchain counts
I agree, character matters a great deal and I think that since the vast majority of my Steem earnings are community derived, my character on this blockchain and similarly in real life stays solid. I do not run and I understand there are consequences to my actions, just as there are consequences to the actions of others.