What happens to people, like the 3 billion people who live on less than $2 per day, that cannot buy Steem?

In a Steemit that rewards authors for the content of the minds and the caliber of their character, then those people too could be freed from the prison of poverty. Not all people, perhaps, but many.

That's not a potential Steemit presently has. It should, and it could, were the various mechanisms that permit, and cause, financial manipulation to be fixed, and return curation to it's stated purpose - reward great content best, good content well, and most content some.