This is an interesting topic I have seen a few people write about of late. You make good points in your post.

So most of us really don’t have that much to add to the value of Steemit except a lot of energy

In my opinion every person that contributes to the Steem network Steem adds value in some way. This is what makes Steem valuable.

Many people of late are of the opinion that you can only make money on Steem by investing enough to get a return. If this is what Steem is then I worry about the future.
We need to promote the notion that Steem will grow by building a network that has intrinsic value, the network is the real asset here and Steem power holders will still make a decent return on their capital by promoting diverse content and communities.