They literally tricked people into giving them access to their accounts to abuse the votes. They did not 'invest'. They literally posted dozens of duplicated posts. Yet you cannot see anything wrong with that? It's all very well not wanting 'negative vibes', but if left unchecked Hive would be a total shit-show. It's a good thing some of us will do the dirty work. As it is we have lots of people earning whilst not even knowing about this shit.

I see you have a couple of $20+ posts since 'all this' started. Good for you. Maybe you can donate some to people who make less.

I'm not looking to fall out with you or anyone who does good stuff here, but I think you have overreacted. Smooth made his motives clear, but you have tried to make people think there is some grand conspiracy. I know a lot of witnesses and 'old guard' do well, but in most cases they have done a lot of the platform and people think they deserve rewards. Some of them flew long distance to Steemfest and other events. Setting up and running a witness node is not cheap. I am sure some of them could make more if they had invested their money elsewhere. Plus some were robbed of huge amounts by Justin Sun. I think you have failed to see the bigger picture whilst enjoying relatively good rewards.

I have invested thousands of hours in supporting small accounts and dealing with abuse. My hourly rate is pitiful, but I think it is worth doing as Hive has great potential to empower millions if we only give it a chance. The community size and rewards are currently minuscule compared to things like Youtube. I want to see Hive grow massively even if it means I make less. I would hope the value goes up, so those who have invested time and money benefit.

Stay well and do good.