I understand your sentiment. I did a detailed review of my voting habits last week and made a clear plan. It's linked in this post as well. I designed my voting pattern such that the maximum votes go to Steemians mamually or through an autovoting service. Selling happens only when I am inactive or sleeping (if the VP recovers to a certain point).
It is profitable from an investment point of view. Buying votes hasn't been profitable for me either but it has enabled some good promotion in past.