Well, you ended up having a nice reward in this post, so I guess the content you published is quite interesting for more than 200 steemians.
I am with you in a way as part of us are here for the money but for me, it is the same story as in any other economy. Do things differently in a brilliant way and money will just come.
Things change, markets change and nothing lasts forever the same way. Steem is just about 2 years old and as the platform grows and more and more users jump in searching for the money, it is more and more difficult to just get money the easy way doing the same things than others do. Bots may work for a while but my personal sense is that eventually they will not be worth anymore.

I'd go for being unique, trying to engage with a big enough audience and publish interesting content. I know this is the long run, but no one ever said things are easy. Easy money doesn't last, it is the same in every market and this is what's happening here too.

Thanks for the post, I enjoyed reading it and seeing how most people experience the same feelings. We will hove see how everything evolves but for me, intervention should be minimum. Let the community rule itself.