There's no denying the virtues of Steemit and the very positive effect it has had around the developing world to get people out of poverty and give them a real base to advance.
But like every human enterprise there are fiddles built into it. Excesses and abuses which corrupt it.

It IS a pyramid
And there are abuses going on in posts. #FakeNews
Pump & Dump hype which invariably harms those least capable of taking losses
Some crusaders are trying to get action to clean up Steemit's act for the common good
but pump & dump won't be going away anytime soon