I just read the article you linked and it actually makes me more hopeful for Steem. While the points raised are valid, many of them have been addressed, showing that evolution and positive change are possible.
Inflation has been curtailed. I think this will begin to distribute power to more users as whales do not inherently have an edge in content creation rewards. Whales formerly did siphon much of the newly created Steem when earning such a high rate of interest on SteemPower.
There are more sites (and more on the way) that pull from the Steem blockchain. While any individual site can set up rules and alter how the content is displayed in order to create de facto censorship, the blockchain itself is uncensored.
The bottom line is as Steemit, or the greater steem system grows, it's really no different than the internet in general. The chances of success in terms of earnings, followers, etc. will be no different than starting a self hosted blog and monetizing through affiliate programs, ad revenue, merchandise sales, etc. It may provide a great integrated tool set, but serious individual content creators will succeed on the back of their own marketing and engagement with their community.