I would not hold it against people if they need to power down to take out money that they need to live. I have withdrawn several thousand Steem at various points. I used it to buy a nice guitar and to pay for my two trips to Steemfest in Portugal and Poland. Part of the reason I have not powered down recently is the low Steem price as I feel it has more value powered up where I can use it to vote.

You will have missed the times when a Steem cost several dollars and numerous people were living from their earnings. I am not sure that was ever possible in the UK. I have a job to pay the bills anyway. I know Steem was making a big difference for people in Venezuela where they might otherwise only earn a few dollars per month.

I had a specific topic for my post and you have covered something else that I am happy to talk about. I do think we need to see a better distribution of rewards. Use of automated voting tends to mean a lot of rewards going to big accounts. This is partly trying to game the curation rewards, but I do not play that game. I send my votes where I think they are needed, even if it's just a few cents.

Steem is a big experiment and we get some influence on the results. With the current low price I think we need to concentrate on building and sustaining the wider community so we can reach critical mass. But if you need the money then take it. Those I featured in my post are doing this, but adding little value in the process and that harms the platform.