How do people expect to be noticed or rewarded without putting in the work? I know the system isn't perfect but like you said it's better than the alternatives. Every day now you hear about accounts being shut down and more levels of censorship across the main platforms. What we have here is a little corner of freedom where people can still go in whatever direction that they like.
It has issues and it has users that damage it but the majority of the community is still working positively and will continue to do so into the future. I've also seen lots of the people who started here with me gain followers and do well with the content that they produce. They are the people who put the time and effort into what they were doing and in the end it payed off.
I never put in that level of effort so i obviously won't reach the same level as they have but thats fine. I do it for the enjoyment and to learn new things. I follow those people that are producing good work and vote and comment on it like yours. Every day i find new interesting accounts to interact with and thats where i want to be right now. Keep it going.