I have read the white paper. I don't doubt the intelligence of the devs or the whales. They have done a fantastic job to bootstrap Steemit to where it is. I also helped strategize early on with the LTBcoin project which is around two years old now so I have spent hundreds of hours thinking on this concept.

Developments in crypto can start off with a bang and end in a whimper very quickly. I'd like to see Steemit be the exception rather than the rule.

As brilliant as the idea behind Steemit is, sometimes as a start up, you have to pivot. When you reach certain stages of growth, you have to make adjustments on the fly. As you say, often people are so vested in their way of doing, it takes a real visionary to catch the wake up call... perhaps this same concept applies to Steemit right now.

The question is whether or not Steemit will continue to grow under the current framework, or do we have to re-invent the vision as we go, based on what is working and what isn't?

I am just pointing out where I see clear weaknesses in this model going forward and I don't think I am alone in this observation (I'm sure a quick vote of all users would quickly demonstrate my point).

I think Steemit has worked far better than the devs ever expected, which is why I think the reward system needs to be reworked based on this success.