Most people arrive at the same conclusions after a while, will you give up or will you persist?

The title of your article actually answers all the questions you raised, with one word "community". You need to find like minded people and build your community, that way you can all build each other up and stand together. To use the sea creature analogy, smaller species of fish will band together to create massive schools, where the larger animals don't need to do that as much.

There are a few things wrong with steemit and I thought it would be different but as in life the money has the power.

Don't get dishartened it's just how it is at the moment and most of all don't give up just keep plugging away you never know who is reading and even who may become a whale in the future.

Good luck all the best.