Attrition should eliminate those that are not serious about being part of the platform and contributing quality.  Anywhere there's the opportunity for money, there's going to be those in for the fast buck.  Sometimes the reality sucks on Steemit, but if you're not contributing, innovating of encouraging others that do, you might need to be encouraged to move on.

I think the development of larger interest tribes will happen also. People with certain passions will be finding themselves more and more together. This should eventually result in commerce, as people begin to trust each other. This is, I think the natural result of people being social in nature, so this will become a digital version of the old tribe model of the past.

What do you call a cow with no legs?

Challenge accepted. 
https://steemit.com/steemit/@lesliestarrohara/i-m-living-large-after-making-almost-usd0-50-from-only-10-posts-on-steemit

Maybe ... just maybe ...
https://steemit.com/writing/@lukeofkondor/writing-hacks-to-help-you-write-like-a-hack

The whales who are genuinely interested in this platform are absolutely critical to creating new whales. They have the leverage to guide people in the right direction. This will help ensure that future whales are ones who create great content, vote in a sound & productive fashion, and pass their knowledge down the line to create a better steemit that's more valuable and useful for all of us.

Yeah, but involuntary (coercive) redistribution is certainly not the right answer. It's in beta too. As more folks rise up, the current advantages of the top 1% will be diminished. And, in this case, other than the fact that the 1% can "vote harder", the group has much to say about what will rise to the top. Only those who are creating good content should be rewarded.
The challenge right now is that many who are creating great content aren't getting recognition while some less helpful posts are getting a lot of popularity and celebrity votes. That's life. Hopefully the community will mature beyond this flocking (mob) mentality, but it is something we tend to gravitate to.

I took on a writing mentee during the first week I was on Steemit. He's doing great, and I think encouragement goes a long way.....

this might be difficult for new users to pay for, but if steemit was to have a mentor programme that allocated new members a mentor who had been vetted to ensure they know the system well enough to help new members.

You've missed part of the beauty of the economic system . . . . just get them to agree to send you all of the SBD from their writing for X weeks (max $Y).  People are generally pretty honest when dealing with such small amounts -- and, if we implement smart contracts, they can actually auto-enforce deals of this type.

What responses did you get? Do you have anything to add to my list?

The site is based on rewarding the best content. If you pay attention, you'll see that the author's posting handle - in this very post - is critical to the exposure of this subject matter. Why? Because the author is creating a forum for positive discussion. Whales aren't going to read this post or take it nearly as serious if it were posted by you or I. The author is utilizing their reputation here to ensure the platform will survive and thrive.  

Don't expect that by writing the best steemit post in the world it will be seen. If you wrote the best, most valuable book in the world, it's not worth a thing unless you can get it in front of an audience. There's no special team who reviews every book that's ever written and decides which books are a best-seller before they go to publishing.. Why? Because everyone thinks their content is the best and the job would be neverending and often more futile than productive. There is a lot of leg work involved in **proving** the value of your content - this is true for the internet or any other medium.

I really dislike ads, actually. I believe sponsored content, in its own section might be a possibility though in the future.