What I would like to see during the growth phases of Steem are buy-backs in Steem from the owners using money earned via monetizing our platform
The thing is, as far as I know, Steem "owners" have no plans to monetize the platform. So there will be no funds for the buy-back.
(Anyway, what you suggest would only be possible in case of a standard, centralized company. Here in Steem there is no such thing as "owners" who could profit from monetization - everybody is an owner to some extent).
If you'd like to know what the alternative to monetization is, please refer to this post:
https://steemit.com/steem/@innuendo/should-we-establish-a-long-run-cap-for-steem-supply