There is nothing underhand about the #minnowsupportproject, it does just what it says on the tin. Support for minnows by minnows with the awesome assistance of several generous whales and dolphins. The project is not an earner, far from it, it serves to help the community develop at the lower level, ultimately improving and benefitting the platform as a whole - hopefully by nurturing up and coming great authors that will bring added value to steemit.