Hive account@crypto-econom1st That's an interesting question. Let me ask you one, how many "whales" have voted on your posts so far? Have you ever earned more then $2 on one of your posts without promoting it? It's quite a complex situation here on Steem. Some people that got in very early amassed a huge amount of steem power and they do seem to be hoarding it. For bloggers who are starting out, bots are totally necessary in order to gain visibility and followers. One person shared that he's posted 2 thousand posts in the last year and has barely made any money - and only has about 300 followers. If he would have used some bots to help promote, he could have 10 - 100x the results from his hard work.. I understand your point and have some concerns about the future of Steem but I believe in evolution, we have a lot of smart people here and a great community, things are going to improve.