Yea, the question about the concern regarding minows being capriciously destroyed by whales was meant to @dannyshine .
I don't think that a promise of payment is the product which Steemit sells. I think the promise of payment is for the product that they want: the interesting articles people have to offerto their platform. IMO, the only thing Steemit has is the show room or platform and the automated systems available to curators and authors.
My question is who is really concerned that Steemit succeeds at preventing people from earning their fare share of cash on this platform? What is Ned's fare share? He is the first to find a way not to take 100% advantage of the public by giving a share back. What is stopping anyone from starting another kind of Steem on a new site owned by a coop or something non-profit ?