There is no contradiction.
The first sentence you highlight states that STEEM does not need any individual...one leave affects STEEM none.
The second says one has the choice to take advantage of the opportunity provided here...
How is that a contradiction?
Even though most humans on this platform are motivated to "work" for STEEM/money, i know there are people here who just like to share and socialize without thinking about STEEM/money for each action they make.
Do you really think the ones with the motivation of sharing and socializing are the ones who are complaining about what the payouts are>
Contradiction was maybe not the right word to describe the confusing message i get reading your posts.
If STEEM want to become mainstream, it need all kinds of users. How do you build a community if not by welcoming individuals?
There are many different kinds of constructive criticism about the payouts here on STEEM. Like all these bot markets that create unsustainable environment for people who just like to use the platform for sharing, creativity and being social.
Now they have to spend more and more time learning how to "trick" the system to get noticed to share their work. My feeling is that STEEM is making everyone who want to be "successful" on the platform, to have a mindset of a Zuckerburg.
Think about it:
There is no advertisement on Steemit, instead you can buy exposure.
There is no third party ad networks on Steemit, instead you have voting bots.
There are no lobby groups on Steemit, instead you have curation groups.
and so on, and so on...
You love to hate on Facebook and other commercial driven platforms, but i would argue that with the same incentives as a base you will get the same result.
Im new to STEEM and i'm still learning to understand what implications it will have on us, but seeing the $ sign attached to each action on the platform does not give me big hopes for a better community than the money driven platforms we already have.
And thank you for responding to my comments, to me the comments are more valuable than the STEEM it may generate.