Fact! But it still falls to us — the active community members — to do our best to support that which makes Steemit a better community, and "push down" that which is basically abusing/milking the system.

In addition to just how the base code presents content, it might also be where "country representatives" can help speak directly to their compatriots to set a good example. I know some of this is already in place... and I also know it's a fairly thankless job to manually mute "spam-and-scam" from communities, but I doubt we can expect sustained growth of Steemit if outsiders looking for the first time see only an ocean of rubbish.