True, i agree. Payoffs without any effort are impossible anywhere else and expecting that is stupid. But i think thats not what my frustration was. When one is new, one is not fully aware of how people are making money - call it lack of awareness or lack of any effort to learn about steemit. So while going through the trending page they see resteemed posts. One can conclude that people who have built a fan following or a follower base are getting upvotes.. similar to youtube or instagram or twitter. However, Its not all that.. there is actual junk as well. And thats when people get frustrated. And i dont think all the frustration is for the whales. It may be from initial failure, something that everyone faces - some leave it there, others do something about it and try something different. And people mostly do not expect things to be given to them for free. No one thinks steemit is a charity.

But i agree wholeheartedly with you. Whales dont owe it to anyone.