Oh, but it IS being sold as something. It's there on the front page before you log in.

Your voice is worth something
Get paid for good content. Post and upvote articles on Steemit to get your share of the daily rewards pool.

The whole thing is evolving into at best a farce at worst a scam.

you just focus on what you can do and what you can change and leave the rest alone.

Therein lies the problem outlined in the post. Without the influence of the top 20, nothing changes on this platform, and the behaviour of people such as @jerrybanfield demonstrates clearly and consistently how that influence can and is being abused.