This place will never get any better, mark my words.

This may be true but I'm not ready to throw in the towel just yet.

I can empathize with you 100%. One thing that @liberosist said in another post resonates with me and I think it lays out the crux of the issue but it could be further expounded to include the drivel that is promoted by manipulators.

Scammers and criminals have an inherent advantage over altruistic, peaceful people.

I've seen comment scammer make a killing and more often then not they are not stopped. I've seen people systematically bid bot lackadaisical posts and walk away with rewards and reputation. Honest people often get left in the dust. It's just the way it is or seems to be currently.

Those of us that want to see thoughtful, articulate and meaningful material on the blockchain are often dismayed when we see repetitive garbage be receive inordinate rewards through inorganic or circular voting.

Perhaps, if after a few months, if the community fails to stop the rampant manipulation from individuals like haejin, tradewonk, and many more like them, I too will need to take an extended leave of absence.

On the flipside, there are a lot of awesome people I have come in contact with so it's been a mixed bag.

Hope you are able to become refreshed and maybe come back to a cleaned up Steem. I am but a minnow but I have big ambitions to implement controls to deter the junk posting. We need flags and more of them.