SMTs very well may be the great incentivizer that pays people for their work. It also might be a return to work ethic, because you can compartmentalize every function of Steem. If your SMT is better you'll be paid more.

I just think it's pretty obvious that SMTs should not be the number one priority at all costs. Steem made it this far and now they are trying to run farther without looking backwards and fixing all the ragtag rushed mistakes they made. This road is full of potholes.

I was going to say I was surprised that you of all people would make this argument. I just realized it was @ned all along lol. Nice.

Like I'm going to trust someone who wrote this in the whitepaper and then left it in:

Page 13 Steem Whitepaper

The actual distribution will depend upon the voting patterns of users, but we suspect that the vast majority
of the rewards will be distributed to the most popular content.

Page 1 Steem Bluepaper

This makes Steem a public publishing platform from which any Internet application may
pull and share data while rewarding those who contribute the most valuable content.

If this sentiment was ever actually believed it was quite naive. Leaving it there just makes you a liar. I guess I'd rather have a snake CEO over a fool.