Indeed! You have identified some of the same problems with Steemit that I wrote about in a couple of posts 2-3 weeks ago...all of them quite valid, yet fully denied by Steemit die-hards.

Yes, indeed, there is absolutely no motivation for anyone to post articles to Steemit, or to upvote other posts. The rewards are so minimal that one is simply wasting their time on the Platform if making money was their motivation. In my opinion, Steemit is all but dead, with the end fast approaching. Most if not all of the platform's long time members have already left and/or cashed in their Steem.

As for the value of Steem, yes indeed, Steemit account values are grossly exaggerated, as are the amounts that Steemit claims to pay curators. Curator rewards which should have paid each curator several cents have paid them less than a 1/100th of 1 cent. Clear to anyone not directly involved with Steemit, there are serious distribution and valuation problems here, or else it is a platform based on fraud and deceit. Either way, Steemit is not what it claims to be. That is an undeniable fact!

Finally, the Power-Up / Power-Down system is nothing more than a farce. Sure it is easy to power up, but doing so will accomplish virtually nothing except force new members to buy some Steem junk coins. And then there is the matter of powering-down which forces you to wait 13 weeks (yes 13 weeks, 1/4 of a year) to get your Steem back. Pretty much a scam if I have ever seen one!