Whilst I agree that upvoting yourself is seen as a minor crime by many, I disagree. I think you should be able to upvote yourself to raise your profile and is especially key for minnows such as myself (I upvote some of my own content).
However, if we are to have a debate about self voting, this needs to include bots and paid up votes, including initiatives such as minnow support. I personally use and support these, but they do not distinguish between good and bad content.
You mention that the same few content creators get most of the rewards. I have seen this and have no issue with it, if it's deserved, but when they have several hundred dollars on their post 3 secs after posting it, it gets a little annoying!