Interesting post, and all very valid points - the question for me is a) are these issues bad? and if so b) can anything be done about them?

Here is my $0.02, a bit unstructured

1. Retention Strategy - the world is neither easy nor fair, and that applies here too. If people come here looking for easy gains and then leave disillusioned, I don't see that as a big loss to the community. Rather, there is a form of natural selection going on, where those that are dedicated and who persevere, will over time reap rewards of some sort - maybe monetary, maybe other. Those are the people you want to retain, but that happens automatically. Of course there will be exceptions to this, both positive and negative, but if the site is able to retain a good portion of those who come here and actually contribute, then I personally have no problem with it growing a bit more slowly - it's quality over quantity

2. I personally am investing and will continue to do so - it would be great if more did. I guess everyone is looking for a shortcut - for me that is to use my own $ to buy steem, for others that means renting. A market has built for steem delegation and it will evolve over time. If that evolution eventually shows that the return on owning is greater than the return on renting, then people will focus on ownership - but I am not sure how to influence the market evolution, which is of course your question

3. I guess that many of those that are dolphins are so because they were turned from minnows into dolphins by whales, and as a result continue to support them - this makes sense and won't change. But perhaps the % of support that dolphins provide to whales will evolve, e.g if they choose to allocate a certain % of their vote to supporting new posters. I think many do this already, and the development of a multitude of groups who all support each other and help each other grow will also facilitate this. But ultimately, the real power will continue to rest with a small few - it has always been thus, not just in STEEMIT

In summary, I think all your points are valid, but I am also not 100% sure they are all necessarily bad things - they just are what they are. The site will evolve and these will evolve with it. I will not spend my time railing against the system, but I will support initiatives that I think will help. But mostly I will focus on enjoying the site and the interaction and see where it leads

Cheers

Holbein81