Is Steemit Generating Wealth or Are We All Simply Spending Someone Else's Money?

Can you really make money out of nothing? Yes of course you can. Central banks across the world do it all the time. However, is this what Steemit is doing? In creating the currency Steem is Steemit simply creating new money? I have long questioned this and if I'm really honest I still don't fully understand the system, and don't have all the answers I would like.

I've been a member of the Steemit community for a while now and I am still finding my way. There is no doubt that the concept is very unique and very rewarding. We contribute our content, it's our work and we get paid. So is Steemit an employer? Are we all its employees? Is Steemit truly generating a new source of wealth?

I create content and upload it to the platform and people vote on it. How many people vote and the strength of their vote significantly impacts on the value of the reward on payout. So where does the financial value in our votes derive from? I fully understand that the voting power has an ascendancy determined by several factors, but where is the source of the finance behind the power of the vote?

The total reward pool, which currently stands at 703,086 Steem, is continually decreasing but regenerates every month. In effect all of us are in charge of the reward pool as we are all empowered with our vote. However, with the huge swell in minnows the reward pool now has to be shared among more of us so it follows that there is less for everyone, well for most users it seems. So who regenerates the pool? Who presses that magic reset button?

Thanks to @bitcoinparadise I was directed to an article posted by @exyle 3 months ago which elaborates more on how the reward pool is regenerated. He raises some great questions and receives some great answers. If you want to know more specifically about the reward pool take a look at his article - https://steemit.com/help/@exyle/some-questions-i-have-about-the-steem-reward-pool#@timcliff/re-exyle-some-questions-i-have-about-the-steem-reward-pool-20170430t162005084z.

However, this still doesn't answer my fundamental question about Steemit. It has created a platform for user content, a system of voting to value and reward our efforts, and created a currency to pay us with which we can then trade with or convert to fiat and see our bank balances increase. Steemit is paying out all of the time. In order to comprehend the whole system do I have to believe that through mass user participation Steemit is creating money out of nothing? Or is there some rich guy or group of rich people funding this whole venture with their own cash? Where is the finance coming from?

I mean when you really sit down and think about it for a moment the Steemit system is one hell of an intricate creature, but a creature that is making us a little richer. I love it but I don't understand it.

If anyone has any answers please reply.