Sighs. This post left tears on my eyes. I'm really sorry you feel this way. Most things you said are right.

Regarding the reward system, you need people with lots of voting power to upvote your posts to get meaningful rewards out of it, this is where making friends and consistency comes in handy.

And regarding a single downvote having great negative effect on the post, this is due to their voting power. Just like a single vote can cause you to make up to $50, I think it's fair if their downvote carries such power too.

Please don't give up.