@cryptoctopus your comment about ICOs and gambling is spot on. This is no different from the early 2000s tech boom when IPOs on websites went for insane amounts of money.

The idea that you put forth about what it would take to have $1000 dividend monthly is what struck me. Steemit isn't a platform on which you make money doing nothing. Dividends in the stock market are effectively you putting your money in the stewardship of others. Increases on Steemit are directly tied to your own decisions, which gives an added layer of freedom and, on some level, mitigates risk.

Good post, thanks for organizing some thoughts around this. This post could very much be used when friends or family ask, "Why Steemit?"