At this stage we need to be a little selfless. I have missed out on many dollars by not self voting, but I don't really need that money.
I disagree. Selflessness is what brought us to this place. Expecting whales to upvote only others, while themselves having the risk associated with locking down their assets for 13 weeks in a volatile market such as crypto, this didn't work and won't work. Instead, we've attracted people just coming to Steem for free money and instead of using it to have some power in this system, selling it and thus creating sell-pressure.
I can appreciate that those who bought many thousands of Steem when it was $2 are desperate to make their money back. I am lucky to have earned most of mine. Steem is intended to be a long-term investment if you want to have influence here. I am supporting those who are willing to power up. Things like vote buying just centralise the power even more whilst making posts trend that would not get there with 'proof of brain'.
It's an imperfect system and we need to find ways to make it work. It just is not growing and may be losing users overall. Those with the power are the ones who can change that.
Just my opinion :)