Steemit is a corrupted system. Rewards can be stolen as Steemit control the witnesses. Blurt was another fork that has no downvotes, so you can do what you like. They do charge you tiny amounts for transactions though. There was an airdrop for all Steem accounts. I had a play with it, but am powering it down as I won't use it.

I still think Hive is our best hope of a good system. Just have to ride out the odd problem. If others Smooth downvoted carry on they can still earn. My only worry is that people will stop posting. We cannot afford to lose them.