You're right about greed and you do really have to turn a blind eye to some shenanigans but it's made increasingly difficult with each change that occurs. Just stick with communities you have joined and take it from there.

Hf21 is confirmed to already be happening now so it looks like the preparations need to start happening for people like us. Firstly, pull back any delegations you have to keep your account SP as much as possible so you can get more curation rewards.

Second, get as many posts out now before HF21 so you maximise author payouts.

I haven't invested any money into steem, just transferred some earnings from other sites so I guess my sweat equity is 100% lol.