Cliques are prevalent here and I benefit from that too. Not that I have any reciprocal voting deals with anyone. The big accounts hold the power and it is up to them if they decide to use it to improve matters rather then personal enrichment. They could do better in the long run if Hive grows and their stake gains a lot of value. That could dwarf their curation rewards.

Hive is an economy and I am no economist. For different people it's about investment, blogging, social, gaming or just a desperate attempt to earn anything. You can't reduce it to one thing.