RE: Why distribution is important
Steem as a whole is an investment tool.
No, its designed as Proof of Brain reward system which allows people recieve rewards based on hard work, engagement and quality of work as assessed by the community. The problems we have now are because its simply being used as an investment vehicle by some who want the biggest returns and rewards for the most minimal effort and hence I suspect one of the reasons for @acidyo post. This also reduces quality which in turn reduces new members wanting to join to read and create.
Unless it becomes more community minded and sharing its sunk. Personal greed kills everything.
With your final statement however, we find ourselves reaching agreement lol On my posts, I generally try and upvote anyone who takes the time to leave a sincere comment. Many save their SP just for self voting and vote buying.
I think Steem is evolving beyond its original purpose. I'd love to see the masses adopt Steem through the apps using it. If the masses are going to join Steem, then we can put the idea that it is for quality only to rest.
The problems you mention are real but I wouldn't say it is wrong to use Steem as an investment vehicle. After all, Steem is badly in need of people who invest fiat in it to keep the price of STEEM at a level that allows for the rewards to be decent and for the witnesses to pay for their servers. What needs to be done is find ways to align the needs of investors for ROI with the long-term benefit of the platform. In my opinion, a system that rewards financially for engagement is a great thing. I would love people to pick Steem UA apart, point out its flaws and offer concrete suggestions to improve things rather than to just proclaim that people must behave altruistically in some particular manner.
We have seen time and again that appeals to people's selflessness are no good. There are two routes to go about fixing things. One is to develop a living community that intelligently rewards people for pro-social behaviors and punishes bad actors. Another is developing tools to help incentivize good behavior financially. Steem UA is in the latter category. It's far from perfect but I'd love to hear how it could be improved.