I'll give you the simple answer regarding the bots. This is an open market. Therefore, you get what is most profitable. Bots are profitable to the bot makers, or they wouldn't make them. That's why bots are here.

It is a delicate balance between the use of them and the abuse of them however. Some people have zero money to put into the platform, they do not have quality or valuable content (according to the market, not them), and they get upset over the use of bots.

Frankly, I don't give a damn about trending or hot. I don't even look at them, so using bots to get into those categories doesn't matter to me. Some people with lousy content use bots. Guess what? They never go anywhere.

Yes, if a person with the money wants to, they can make a joke/crap post and get it into trending, etc. to prove a point. What point is that exactly though? Did someone force that person to pay for the bots? No, they did not.

I have no control over what people upvote.

I have no control over how much people put into their Steem Power.

That's how it should be. If a person doesn't like the content, just ignore it. All the drama about the current system is hurting this platform for everyone from low to high SP.

A lot of people seem to think the answer is to control how people with SP and SBD are going to spend their money. Uhm, if you add those types of controls to steemit, people with SP and SBD will leave.

Yes, Steemit is about voluntary charity and supporting the people you want to support directly, but it is also about making a return on your investment.