I will try and keep this concise.

I was originally invited by Hive account@zest and Hive account@abigail-dantes to join Steemstem. At that time I honestly felt privileged (back in December 2017 or early Jan) to be a part of the team. Also, to some extent (and because I had read some of their posts which are always quality) they affirmed my belief that my work was actually good enough to warrant their invitation. I have always wanted to write, knew I had a gift for it but never had an outlet and @Steemstem provided that. For this I am truly grateful.

One of the biggest problems is that Steem and Steemstem has grown exponentially fast. The foundation wasn't there to support the influx of new content creators to our group.

"More and more people joined, more and more posts were voted ... more and more people complained. Yes, we all work for free to get barely a ‘thank you’

This is why I agree you guys should take a break. Entitlement inevitably subverts any form of gratitude. Although all of us may feel entitled at times, it indicates that something is indeed rotten at the roots.

Now this is my opinion and please feel free to disagree. Posting for steemSTEM is not just a hobby or a means to create a following on Steemit. I am in it for the rewards just as much as I feel an obligation to create quality content and discover and encourage it in other authors.

I have literally been telling friends and family , with a chip on my shoulder, that I "write part-time now". Correct me if I am wrong, but if a post doesn't lift it's proverbial pinky, it should GTFO. I (think) I understand what steemSTEM wants to achieve, but the latter remains an important part to that, and also leads me to my next point:

If we apply Ockham's Razor, I would argue that there is no community involvement because an exceedingly large portion of our members aren't interested in this. We can't and shouldn't force involvement. How do we separate the wheat from the chaff? I honestly don't know.

At the moment, to me at least, it boils down to entitlement vs. gratitude and involvement. Maybe, instead of steemSTEM members following the curation trail set by steemstem, steemSTEM should follow the members. We should inevitably root out the weeds.

Anyways, take a well deserved break. I need some time to think over all of this , too.