The fact that this post is only getting $31 as of now, and there are so many others which are getting way more from self votes is a tragedy.

I don't fit the right mold. I'm not a perma-cheerleader and blower of smoke up asses. I'm also not a hypocritical douchebag who thinks it's OK to bitch and moan about someone else's criticisms for a year and a half, then start parroting those same criticisms myself and upvoting myself and my friends - who start doing the same - to hundreds of dollars per post.

Hell...I'm still waiting for those jackasses to apologize to me, since I've obviously been right with my criticisms - seeing as how they're now admitting it by basically repeating what I said a year ago.

If curation split goes up surely those same people who delegate now will just use vote bots or voting services?

Possibly. But I'm sure a lot of those people who are now delegating might reconsider. A lot of people have only chosen to automate and delegate because the rewards aren't worth the time for manual curation. I know I've considered it myself. Hell, if things don't change and instead keep trending in the same direction as they are now, I may be left with no choice.

There's no point in trying to keep my integrity/dignity in a community that has mostly chosen to abandon it. It doesn't pay to be responsible and hold yourself accountable or to a higher standard. If you're not doing what the exploiters, the automaters, the vote-buyers/sellers, and the shitposters are doing to funnel rewards to themselves for minimal effort and/or low-quality contributions, then you're just falling behind. Why should your relative stake decrease for having higher standards for the network, especially when very few people actually care and show it by their own actions?