Nice read!
One of the most beneficial change in the rules proposed is this one in my opinion:
I propose that we put curators who upvote in the first five minutes on the same reward footing, eliminating the advantage of an immediate voter.
That really makes sense when you think about it. I think Steem's core is good, it just needs a little fine tuning!
Also, would it kill Steemit to factor in some kind of rewards beyond the current 7 day period? Some content that gets on here sells off for very cheap. Others less so.
Enjoyed the read, by the way.
Yes, I think that this alone will help some matters so is a very good (and easy) starting point.