I think that's a fair assessment. I personally don't believe in pure altruism because I think everyone is motivated both intrinsically and extrinsically by various reward responses within their own brains. For me, I want to create a world I (and my family) want to live in. Even if I did something that appeared altruistic, it would be towards that end which relates to my own existence.

IMO, one of the biggest challenges facing Steemit right now (beyond the UX/UI issues, lack of communication about downtimes, signup verification delays, etc) is the lack of marketing to non-crypto enthusiasts. Jerry, with all his flaws, is doing something practical about that with his advertising campaigns. I'm willing to try him out as a witness for a time because of that effort which costs real money. He's committed 80% of his witness rewards (if he makes the top 20) to be put back into advertising. If lack of effective marketing is a real problem here, having one of the top 20 witnesses actively working on that seems like something that would benefit us all.