But is that stuff trending because it is genuinely popular, or because there isn't anything else to vote for because the good stuff is being withheld/not published?

It's possible that Steemit is resembling sites where people post throwaway stuff without being paid, because there is no longer any differential in pay if your stuff is any good.

It's like if a rule was imposed on "the rich" aka the whales, where they were not allowed to pay extra for silk shirts, they had to pay no more than they would for a nylon shirt. What does the manufacturer do? Withdraw the silk which has a higher input cost, and only supply cheap nylon, because that is the only way to maintain your margins. So you are not going to be able to buy silk cheaply, you are not going to get silk at all...