I'm sort of in the same boat ;(
All I can say is keep on doing your best and hope that your up-votes will finally gain some "steam" and start making a difference for you.
This is the long road... If you believe in the system, a shorter path would be to buy some Steem and power it up. That way your "opinions" will have more weight right away
Good job! 2-3 hours of reading is a lot of work.
Regards,