Ha Ha ha - i thought David Carradine was awesome in kung fu - gwass hopper :) that was a longtime ago....
i'm always open to criticism, and as soon as i press that "post" tab, then i stand behind my words 100%, until such time that someone corrects me and my truth is exposed as a point of view only.
i think if you believe in the value of your work, then others will see this in the quality of what you write and up-vote. If you don't believe in your own worth, then chances are that you will up-vote yourself to boost your self esteem. If the self up-vote was removed, then the only way a whale could generate income would be to pay it forward and contribute to the steem platform.
There are some amazing whales and Dolphins on this platform, one of which is called @fulltimegeek who has delegated his steem to 54 different accounts, over a million dollars worth to what he has called the stewardsofgondor of which i'm one, The stewards have gone on to further delegate their steem to over 100 recipients... leading by example and paying it forward. i'm still only a plankton 2 months in - but with my delegated steem, my up-vote is worth 31c - see above i could have up-voted my 396 posts for a profit and have more steem power, but i would rather lead by example and pay it forward - one vote for me would be one vote less for someone like you.
if i can find good quality blogs and posts, or really nice people wanting to do the right thing, then i will give my support and up-vote helping to make this platform a welcoming, friendly and a rewarding place to be:- belly rub for you too @lilygolightly :)