I agree with you that curation rewards aren't a good argument to buy STEEM. But imagine there were no curation rewards whatsoever. Could there still be a reason to buy STEEM? Absolutely yes, if you believe it will increase in value. (Of course this does not mean that it necessarily will increase in value nor should be purchased.) The curation rewards are icing on the cake from an investment perspective, nothing more.
It's like a finger pointing away to the moon. Dont concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory. --Bruce Lee
I'm personally still learning how and if the curation rewards mean much but it's not my focus either. Reading great content and learning is, then the social aspect of more intelligent and though provoking friends than FB offers. And investment-wise I just added $25 to my meager coinbase account, so I can buy bitcoin with it, so I can buy Steem to sit on for awhile. I think that's a worthwhile investment of small amounts of money at this phase of the platform's career for sure. And (full circle now, haha) time spent curating can be used to purchase small amounts of Steem, so I guess that makes curation worthwhile as well, from that perspective alone too.
Great quote btw! Sorry to double post, I got lost in my first point and forgot to say so, haha
Why would they believe STEEM to increase in value? Do you believe so? Why?