Did you read the post @steevc ?

Your point is answered. You say "If we all just self-vote then Steemit will get worse and just die"
but your "IF" suggest a situation that will not happen by the simple fact that big investors won't rationally self-vote up to crash the platform since it would drive the price of steem down HENCE their Power Up down.

You start your argument with an illogical statement.

It is a simple equilibrium. But people just like to whine first and think (or actually never seek to understand) the natural balance.

And just like every equilibrium, it is never perfectly at balance point, it goes down and up, so at times, there will be more self-vote, and others there will be less.

It's always about trying to shame the very people who are putting a project in the spotlight in the first place, by actually putting money into it.