I can definitely appreciate some of your frustrations and concerns @steddyman.
It's interesting how we arrive at Steemit with such diverse interpreations. I came here in January 2017 because this seemed to be very much like the "Social Blogging" platforms that were popular around 1999-2006 (pre-Facebook and MySpace) and I really enjoyed that format.
I'm also a 20-year veteran of "content for rewards" sites, so I came here with a HUGE dose of skepticism, specifically centered around the core thought "Yeah, this is an awesome and beautiful idea, but AS USUAL these people have grossly underestimated the sheer depth of human GREED."
Which has proven largely true. The problem ANY site like this faces is that there are literally hundreds of thousands of people out there who will flock to any place where they can click a few buttons to earn 1/2c. And they tend to descend like a swarm of locusts and destroy everything for everyone else.
"But how bad can it really BE?"
Oh... REALLY. FUCKING. BAD.
Like everywhere else, Steemit is no different from life, at large. The rich get richer, usually at the expense of the poor. In between that, there are little pockets of people who choose to form their own communities to bypass the naysayers... and they chart a course of their own.
It's not perfect, but it's certainly not all bad, either.
Thank you for the detailed reply. Even though I had a downer on Steem at the time I posted the article, airing these views has given me more confidence to promote only the content I value.
You are right about the problem of the hoard of people that will abuse a platform to earn a buck. Even though it frustrates me, it must be incredibly difficult to define a platform that doesn't suffer from it in some way. People will always find loopholes to exploit the system.