I honestly didn't know that you could downvote someone. I noticed the flag button but I've never even explored it, I just assumed it was for maybe flagging spam or something bad. There should be good reason for downvoting a post, not just because you disagree with something about it or something about the author.

I still don't even understand the payout system and the ins and outs of how to be productive or efficient on this site. Most of the steem/money I have here came from transferring btc and other crypto. I hate it for ya man, sounds like a bad situation. But at least it looks like you got some sound advice here in the comments! Good luck!