"...a massive downvote on a whale is like a mini upvote for everyone else..."

This is factually correct, and you do not address that fact. You bring up another aspect of such acts that @markymark did not address instead.

Steem does not need profiteers. It needs investors that seek to build value into the endeavor, and this is done by encouraging creators that market Steem with their posts and comments. Profiteers are poor substitutes for that. In fact, they are not similar at all in their effects, and should be eschewed even absent angel investors. Sucking value out of the platform does not benefit it at all.