In the 18th century the UK parliamentary system had a hiatus where there was a radical change due to corruption effecting all aspects of how the country was governed. Known as the rotten boroughs it changed things considerably for the good.
It strikes me, as a new user of #steemit, ( I’m too fat to be a minnow or plankton to be honest but I’m insignificant as far as the platform goes) that eventually the community will have to do something similar. It can’t make any logical sense for what is essentially a corrupt practice to effect the good of the whole community. Otherwise, as you point out, the community breaks down, game over.
I’ve been a reasonable user of Twitter and something similar has and is happening there. Had Twitter not started to adapt when it did then I’m quite sure it would be dead now, and it’s not quite through that as change takes time.
Open for my minuscule view to be swollowed up by a whale and spat back out into the ocean, but if it’s correct then it can only be a short matter of time before the community acts to protect and secure its own future.