Great comment @toddrjohnson
Of course DACs don't fix everything wrong with Steem network at this time..
Ned has proposed some ideas, with Oracles that help the network run smoothly, but also weed out bad actors and bots. Also Communities (think sub-reddits) fix much of what you speak of (silo-ed content).
Steemit is an experiment; it needs Hivemind and other components to be a completed design, and it's just one possible "version of many" and different ways to "present" the Steem blockchain.
" rule by the powerful few" - it's experimental and it's being invented at this time, still.. by some really amazing people, I must say.
Check out Kent at eossandiego on youtube, and see what he has to say about his new Challenge app. It's on EOS, but it could be on Steem too; it might be better on steem but who knows..
I think of EOS as more Enterprise computing apps, and Steem as social media replacement. EOS can do multi-sig contracts (think estate planning) and has more to prove in the next year. Steem is solid and is ready for any number of better presentations to the public, once a few more pieces are put in place.