I think this is a very good point: "If, instead, they thought in terms of rational, long term value creation (instead of irrational, short-term value extraction), we might all benefit more."

But the sentiment seems to be - someone else is abusing the reward pool so why shouldn't I do that as well ? You wouldn't want to loose out right ?

The whole idea of Steemit is to cut out the third party - greedy people like Mark zuckerberg - and we as a whole get to share the rewards of the value we create as a community. But that should also mean that we all take role as leaders. It is sad to see that it seems like we are in the end being just as greedy as any other and just like in Facebook just a few really benefit who are at the top.

On the other hand I don't have upvotes that would be worth 10 of dollars each so it's not easy to say what I would do if I had that kind of Steem Power.

Either way, I think 50 percent curation seems like a good option to try. But I think more importantly people have to think of their own social compasses instead of looking at what others do