Publishing articles on publications like Illumination is part of your problem. They publish so many articles a day that none of them stay visible more than a few hours. It seems that the Medium algorithm considers your article is in a publication and doesn't consider it for further distribution.

But, your frustration is legitimate and I have heard you. Alas, Medium's staff will ignore you or just gaslight you. But what you say is correct and many of us long-time members and friends of Medium agree with you.

You may be interested in what I wrote recently, referencing an older article.

https://medium.com/all-about-m/medium-is-still-not-better-will-the-repair-team-arrive-soon-92a8dd69452f