I dunno... Just rambling.
No, you are right. I remember back in the day getting Curie'd in my first few weeks. It was something like 15 dollars back then and after that, I no longer qualified as my Rep was too high. Rep too high to get support? So, don't support people who the community thinks (before bidbots) have decent content? I had been here weeks and hardly knew anyone, wasn't in a chat and had no idea how the system functioned yet found myself quite alone for a very long time.
I can only speak from my experience but once past a certain point, you are on your own and the real work starts. New and small accounts like to think it is all luck and timing but for those who have built from nothing, continually powered up and have foregone a lot of the luxuries to do so (I speak from my perspective), a mass of work has been done.
The sad truth is that part of the one percent problem is that few people are willing to do the work to build up enough, and the middle class problem is one where it can't be built because a great deal of the available SP gets used to retain people who are unproven, unwilling and likely extractors.
If a healthy middle-class is the goal, the big fish need to find healthy members of the community and support them heavily. In time, it will support itself and feed many, many more.
But hey, I speak from a position on my Golden throne of entitlement granted me through pure chance.
It wasn't long ago I was dropping $10 votes on minnows. There was a window of opportunity for many of them to convert 1 SBD into 3-4 STEEM as well. During that spike, people could have been building up accounts, then helping each other earn more down the road.
Instead of choosing strength in numbers, they cashed out then, and quit recently. Self-inflicted.
Many of us tried to help and got burned for our efforts. I learned a lot from that experience and I'm far more careful now with who I decide to support.
Pure chance. I took a chance and got to work. Still fairly happy with how far I've come. Still see a future here as well. Hoping things change for the better. Some days it feels like we're in a war zone though. Soldiers are dropping like flies all around me. Some can't take the pressure and put the gun up to their own heads. It's hard to watch. Want to help, but can't, or it's not enough.
Me also. If I had been selfish, I estimated I would have powered 15000 more SP up during those times. There are people who should be one percenters based just on that month or two yet, where are they?
This is what I missed during most of my life. I have never been lazy but, I have also often limited what I was willing to do and in which areas. Now, I work when and where there is work to be done. Here and in the real world. One day, one day, I hope it is enough.
It is a war of attrition and instant gratification loses every battle.
Monetarily speaking on individual levels they did well with their earnings if they cashed out at price levels many times higher than what they are now.
Most people come to steemit to earn income, the problem is not that people at the bottom are cashing out, it is that the shadow mine was used improperly from the start in various ways and failed to find its way into the hands of a large enough group of people who were actually willing to distribute it and incentivize social activity.
I was drinking coffee when I read that... its almost 4am and I just made a mess.. hahahahahhahahahah