The majority of people will always have their own self interest at heart to an extent. If people get rewarded for being selfish we can't be surprised when they become selfish.
If it pays to be selfless then it's a win win on both sides. The question is how to get that balance right.
Life rewards the selfish animals. Why try to go against nature?
People are going to look after their own best interest as expected. That's not a good argument for why Steem isn't working. Just like mining only works because miners are selfish.
But for the long term future of the platform we will either need more people to be successful or STEEM to be more valuable. People will always be out for themselves but if we can align it to the benefit of everybody then it would be a better system.
It's not sustainable for just the 1% to be earning from it, that's why people are pushing for a different system in the first place.