Either way, nobody here gets paid without first giving someone the incentive to vote

Sorry, but not true if I am understanding you correctly. If nobody was incentivized to vote through curation rewards - people would still vote. I vote all the time, and it has nothing to do with any potential curation rewards.

The amount that the rewards pool will pay out each day is the same regardless of how many people vote. Whoever votes that day are the ones that decide where it goes. It would still all get paid out absent curation rewards.