Well, I think those who followed you in doing what you started doing early on shouldn't be blamed for having a low morale. Under current circumstances bid bot providers are doing what is economically sound to do. If enough of the stake here is not happy with the outcome of this economy then the system parameters have to be changed. To repeat what I said in another comment, counting on morale or community-oriented behaviour is an expectation that will always be disappointed when there is money to be earned.

As for the root cause, to me it's the introduction of delegations and linear rewards that marginalized community approval as a factor for reward allocation. And both, the bid bot economy and voting circles have been fueled by these changes. Yes, voting circles have existed before, yet were a phenomenon that required whale participation. Now we have these circles throughout the entire stake-holder hierarchy.

So if changes are introduced that counter voting circles you will probably erode the economic viability of bid bots, too.