"I admit I personally upvote my own posts "

Nothing wrong with that. I advise all minnows to do this.

"How do we fight back when there is so many of us scraping by just in hopes to one day earn something on this platform? Whales that want this platform to exist long term is I think the only ones who can stop this."

Exactly, you as a minnow can't do much. Keep your head down and make what you can. Try to operate in good faith.