Currently, Steemit is more of an Aristocracy.

Aristocracy as defined by wikipedia:

Aristocracy (Greek ἀριστοκρατία aristokratía, from ἄριστος aristos "excellent," and κράτος kratos "power") is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class.[1] The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best".

The people who really control the incentives on Steemit are those with the Steem Power. If you don't get an upvote from a whale, your post will most likely not make more than a few dollars at best or probably a few cents with the current price of Steem. This should not upset you though. It makes sense if you think about it.

Karma - You get what you deserve

It can be discouraging to see whales upvoting content that in your eyes doesn't deserve it, but the simple fact is they are where they are for a reason and I respect that. I am a believer in karma - the true philosophy of karma from the East - not a Westernized version. This means that I believe that you get everything you deserve and you deserve everything you get. This may be a hard pill to swallow and I would never proclaim to know all the reasons for everything, but this is my personal belief.

I know it doesn't seem to make sense when bad things happen to good people or vice versa, but I believe there is always a reason and we are always learning and evolving. Again these are my personal beliefs and although I can and will argue the truth of this philosophy, I don't expect anyone to accept it for themselves unless it rings true to them.

Cooperation is Key

Personally, I enjoy spreading good ideas and working cooperatively for the benefit of everyone involved so that's what drives me to make posts more than the money. If it was for money alone, I might have already given up. Don't get me wrong, I like to make money too and it feels good to get a monetary reward and a vote of confidence from a founder or someone that's been highly involved from early on, but if that doesn't happen consistanly, I will still keep posting and curating.

As long there is a community here that is trying to grow, I will be here. The funny thing is that I know that attitude is also exactly the kind of attitude that will eventually be rewarding monetarily if value is brought to anyone. You see if your goal is to be helpful to others, you end up helping yourself!

Steemit is just getting started!

The people that are here now are people that can see the potential. I believe Steemit will eventually be massively successful and there will be many more whales making it much more decentralized, but currently there are a small number of whales that decide who gets rewarded for what. Thankfully, these whales have varied interests and care about the platform so they are promoting and rewarding a wide range of good content and good projects.

All images from pixabay

The price of Steem

I have been a bit discouraged by the price of Steem going down, but it seems to be bouncing now. Several knowledgable people seem to think so as well, so don't give up Steemians! Keep posting and working to build the community and Steem will rise!