The problem is that by definition Steemit has monetized quality content. The catch is that no matter how good the content is, if nobody upvotes it, it doesn't earn the author a single cent. This is why so many people are resorting to offering an incentive on top of the curation reward, to attract upvotes to their content. What the whales assume however, is that they deserve to make hundreds of dollars per post just because they have a large Steem Power balance. That balance however, has nothing to do with the quality of the content being put out. Jeff Berwick made a fortune within days of joining Steemit, because he had an existing ready made follower base who valued his content. For others starting out however it's not that easy. Perhaps we should cut the minnows some slack. If their content is good they will get whale upvote, otherwise they will get pennies. That is the fact of this ecosystem, and it ain't going to change any time soon.