True, our democracies are corrupt but they are still nominally democracies. The rules are quite clear - one citizen one vote. Equal rights for all etc. If there is a deviation or corruption you can always appeal to those base rules and correct the practical application of the system. There is something to appeal to.

However, here the rules themselves are different. The US constitution and voting rules do not say "a citizen's vote shall be proportional to the size of their material holdings"... while Steemit's rules say exactly that. Nothing is perfect, but creating perfect rules (or as close as you can get to them) is a good step in the right direction.

I really don't know if it is technically possible to change the rules at this late stage but if they continue on like this then you are right, it will end up as chinese casino social network.