I agree. I guess I've just never come across the "click for cash" marketing angle that tells people to make money here curating. As you said, the only way that works is if you're a whale and are always upvoting only your own comments and ample posts! That's just gaming the platform.
This is a place where good content creators can get paid for creating. I think that's the selling angle that's true. But it still requires doing that well for the way the platform works. And I think it also requires a little upfront investment of your own cash, like any business would.