This is interesting. The way I see it, the fact that Steem and SBD have been low recently reflects the lack of investors compared to, say, Bitcoin. This is partly because the platform is still not widely understood or even known about (it took Bitcoin several years for its value to increase beyond a few cents).
As awareness grows, one way to attract more investors is to give them benefits – and voting weight distribution is one of them. It's one reason that I invested fiat into Steem Power and Steem, despite the clear risk that would be perceived by any conventional financial advisor!
If more people invested in Steem and SP, everyone on the platform would benefit because the value of all our holdings would increase.
My increased stake means I can spread my voting more widely. I'm very careful about what I vote for, but I've recently started autovoting for the first time ever. I'm careful about my curation, checking up on it regularly. I want to vote for people who give value, and also reward newcomers, which is why I autovote for the Welcome Wagon. If good work is rewarded, the platform is more likely to grow, and that will help my investment. I think we just need patience.