i took some time to read through this post too and read a lot of the comments the other day. i think what it boils down to is this:
sometimes in life we have the option to "force a move" like you're saying. sometimes "powers that be" - in this case Steemit inc- need to see something "get really bad" (tragedy of the commons as trafalgar says above) before they'll move to shift anything.
personally, i love hearing from you and other impassioned witnesses (hey! i can say that about you now!) and steemians with larger platforms, but the question i always come back to is:
where is steemit inc in all this?
I understand that this is a decentralized platform and we're all thrown in this together, but steemit inc still drops the hardforks and in this way controls the system we're all playing within. where are they? i know the communication is notably and notoriously horrible from them... but i would think if their own stakes are slowly deteriorating in relation to the structure of the system itself (and individually we're left to a moral dilemma to be an asshole or not), someone would feel motivated to generate a shift in the structure. simple survival there- unless "it hasn't gotten bad enough yet"..
feeling so out of control as a "regular" steemian, it's easy for so many of us who don't have any weight to throw around to just keep on business as usual. i suppose this is a lot like life. i hope (and i do believe) that your words touch someone who can do something about this. personally, i would also like to be able to live off of the money i earn off of steem eventually and see the pages of steemit reflect the real user base and not these people circle jerking or abusing bots... my two cents <3
And what a fine 2 cents they are :)
I would guess that Steemit inc. are busy with HiveMind, Communities, and SMT and perhaps need to keep these things top of the list, as they are top of the roadmap for 2018.
The rewards structure is being altered with the next fork with regards to curation rewards, and so taking the advice of one of last years commentators, are tweaking one thing at a time.
It does feel at times like the folks distributing their votes and playing by ideals are keeping this place afloat, but perhaps it's not as bad as I think? Let's us hope that this is true, and review is planned following the next set of changes.
Thanks for your input here! :)