I would say that where you nailed the truth more than anywhere is was here:

Perhaps it is the marketing by some ignorant Steemians who believe it is a good idea to troll Facebook and YouTube touting the idea that one can make thousands of dollars on a post in 24 hours.

Yup. Having been part of MANY "get rewarded for posting content" venues, I can confirm that when to present a site as "easy money" you get FLOODED with people looking for easy money. It's the first rule of marketing... "you get EXACTLY what you ask for."

As one of Peter's followers, I would agree he's a great example of "slow and steady wins the race," although his rise has been much faster than most of us "redfish" or "plankton."

=^..^=