The biggest attractor for steemit is without a single doubt the idea of getting paid to write good content. This is what attracted me to it initialy. Since then, I've had a few posts that made quite some money (top one earned me just over $650), but this is not the thing that keeps me here, otherwise I would have left after my latest posts only earned me pennies.
What makes me come back to this site is the excitement about seeing new ideas implemented, seeing how Steem is powering a community that creates value for everyone to enjoy. The value is given freely, the rewards are given freely, without anyone forcing anyone else to value certain things. In this community, we can all be free.
But the true value of steemit, is that the people who profit most from the network are the ones whose work is valued by the community. Not the equivalent of Zuckerberg. Not the big companies, but those who create.
"Creativity is the greatest rebellion in existence," Osho said.
And I am a rebel. I don't like to play by the rules laid down by others when they don't make sense to me. This isn't a question of morality, but of personal ethics, creating the life that I want. Creating gives me so much joy, while in the old paradigm, I was a cog in some machine handing over all my value to some dude in a black t-shirt or a turtle-neck.