On the issue of identity verification by trusted parties, this is one of the areas which has become a big conversation I've been having with some colleagues in the #promo-steem community, and which we are hoping to find solutions for. Without wanting to ever get into a form of KYC, which I feel would be a terrible thing, we are working on building an off-site construction which we hope the community will support, and perhaps even bring into the ecosystem in the future. Ultimately, we all want Steemit and the Steem blockchain to thrive, and there are clear problems with the current way things are done. Naturally, these will take time to evolve, and many people have their own ideas about how it evolves.

Taking on the issue of people "raping the rewards pool", it seems to me that the purpose of Steemit itself is evolving. What makes a great post is subjective, but ultimately, I think what makes a great post is simply does it add value to peoples lives? If @haejin and others get great rewards from posting their TA, then fair play to them. Unfortunately, getting seen can be a problem. I have recently released some really high end music onto the DTube platform, stuff which hasn't taken me days, weeks or even months, but literally a number of YEARS to write, record, produce, mix and master (mainly due to its complexity) and received virtually nothing in the way of upvotes. However, I know there are people out there (some even commenting on this thread) who regularly post someone elses work (with a link to avoid plagurism of course) who regularly get huge upvotes for what is essentially 5 minutes work. For people who are trying to make great content, this might take them off the platform for a bit, because some content genuinely takes ages and ages to create.
I would like to see a situation where great content creators, even brand new ones, can share in the rewards and make this a place where everyone, regardless of how much Steem they hold, can grow and thrive. The biggest problem to this is the circle-jerking that goes on amongst some of the whales, and these are the people who are causing the rewards pool to be drained. The whales will benefit if the community benefits from the rewards pool, because ultimately this makes the platform attractive to great content generators, and in turn raises the price of Steem. If you have a couple of million SP in your wallet, who cares if you get a hundred dollars in a post? What makes you even richer is the price of Steem going up to $10, or hey how about even $100? And this occurs when it becomes a sound vehicle for creators and investors alike. Unfortunately, this requires more of a behavioural shift, and educating those who hold the most influence to act in a way that is more altruistic towards the minnows. That way, everyone gains at some level.