Holy shit THIS. I feel naive at times because I still don't fully understand a lot of things on Steemit, but you gave me a key visual that helps me better understand how Steemit is. I've also read that when Steemit first started, users posted in good faith with no payouts AT ALL for a month or so coming in.
We do in many ways have it easier as well. The stable price of Steem (and SBD) is a good indicator that Steemit isn't just going to disappear and fall away, if anything we should stick it out just as much as the platform does.
The slow down can be a good thing, a post may stick out, and it also leaves plenty of room for us to plan out our articles and how we want to go as well. No doubt that big things are coming.
The writers are meant to grow (in number and in ability) with Steemit together.