Otherwise, Steemit is no different than a decentralized version of Ben Bernanke.

LOL. I don't know if I believe it is that bad. Your suggestion has some merit, but it makes it feel like a pyramid scheme. You don't have to pay into Bitcoin to obtain Bitcoin. You can mine your own. Writing articles is similar to that concept. We don't mine Steem, but we do the work with our articles and comments.

Perhaps a method where there is a charge to be a member, and if you contribute an article on a regular basis you meet the minimum requirement. Too many people have joined Steemit and then lost interest. The pool is diluted and you don't have enough contributors.

Either way, I upvoted this. It's worth the discussion.