Love the idea about interviewing the witnesses and posting the interview transcripts on Steem! You should definitely go through with that plan @omitaylor.
As @jerrybanfield explained in one of his videos a few months ago, the minnows do not affect the witness rankings at all. All that witnesses need to do is get the votes of 1-5 largest SP holders and that is it.
SP wealth is overly concentrated, and that is a major weakness of the Steem network. I do think that this SP distribution issue will get better with time as more whales contribute to different Steem projects and also distribute their wealth to deserving Steemians.
Yeah I watched the video by @jerrybanfield as I was researching what it takes to become a witness. And I get the message, however, anyone can become a whale just by putting more money in. So a minnow today may not be a minnow tomorrow. And the reverse is true as well. A whale today could be a minnow tomorrow.
I've always wondered though, what happens if a whale dies with their vote in tact and nobody changes it or powers down their account. Lol.
The witness structure also may not be forever. Who knows one day if a fork doesn't introduce a split in witnesses or even fewer witnesses.
Power is very circumstantial and relative, as the dropped blocked of yesterday's fiasco has proved.
That being said, I've already started brainstorming on the concept of interviewing witnesses. I would want the outcomes posted not only on Steem, but an evergreen domain forever. I have ideas and I'll keep you in the loop if you're interested in being updated on it. That's if witnesses are willing to participate. I'm thinking the first round should interview the top 100 witnesses if possible plus any willing to participate- and have a standard set of questions that allow everyone to compare answers side by side: sort of like a political campaign for 20 presidents with a set of "issues" and other information like their vision of the direction of the blockchain and the assets built on it. Who knows, maybe some of the whales will consider the information as well. And like I said, you never know who'll be a big whale one day. 😀