I don't think it's exactly fair to compare author rewards to curation rewards, but I understand where you're coming from. Posting, witnessing, mining, and investing are all outside of the bounds of curation, and are independent systems to consider.
No worries about the tone, I got your drift and take no offense. There are things I feel just as strongly about and have the same types of adverse reactions towards in different aspects, with the bot/curation situation being one of them.
I'm happy we're having this conversation though and I hope the discussions that come of it will help change things for the better!