I have somewhat compared it to MLM as well and heard others do the same. I think more so it is hard for someone to come in and be able to leave their mark on the platform without being sort of the same contingent that came from BitShares. Some of the Witnesses do a ton and then others don't seem to do much but it is almost like they were there by default because they were early investors in BitShares and were witnesses over there. The same thing will likely happen with EOS. There are a handful of people who will essentially end up with a money printing machine and it seems like if you get out ahead of people with your power then you have enough influence to sustain yourself. But that mark is more around 100,000 Steem Power so it is a substantial investment.
I get what you are saying about only 1% making sustainable incomes. I have been watching the situation for awhile and no content creator has gotten rich off here. Like Millions earned which can be viewed a couple of ways. There is enough money flowing around that could have allowed a couple people to get rich but since everyone has a vested interested in the platform then we somewhat all have our own goals where as on YouTube the viewer can be monetized with an ad even if they aren't creating content or leaving comments. Obviously there are advantages and disadvantages to both sides.
Also if a person puts in a large investment into the platform they are expecting a return so they are going to have to do what they see fit to increase that value.
I'm kind of lucky the post made as much as it did. It is somewhat hit and miss sometimes for sure.