Of course they are. They should get their rewards from the same people who reward the community members who don't have the luck to have an investor here - the whole rest of the community. If everyone just rewards their circle, we'll never have the opportunity to grow outside of those.

Nothing speaks against you giving them upvotes for good content. I saw that your brother really put work into his last post. If he keeps that up and engages with the rest of the community, he will get more rewards over time. Of course that requires consistency in the quality. That nobody voted for his photos with always the same filter over them shouldn't be too surprising to you when you're honest. And giving him regular 100% votes for that, while you voted everyone you don't know and who doesn't vote for you with 1-4% doesn't help steem at all.

I suddenly feel like we're on a good way here, and maybe the time I spent in the discussion wasn't a waste after all. At least I hope so now :)