What will drive the price up significantly is enough people wanting influence in the system which means, Steem power being held and restricting the supply on the market place but, it is not good enough for this to only be the whales as it is too risky as there is too much reliance on too few. Having a healthy middle-class of Steem holders is the way to go.
Reading some of your post everyday, I know that you have an honest goal of making this community better in all status, may it be whales,dophins and minnows. It is just there are a lot of factors that play into molding this community. And I think each Steemian is responsible and accountable for their actions. And since it is so decentralized it is so hard to to implement modifications unless you have huge influence and community of people following you. And there are different types of people here with different motives. Good or bad, hidden or not,it shows because it is transparent. But with a lot of people joining, it is hard to police it. With your Helsing idea maybe it will help.