Do you believe that you have skills which surpass those of other users of the platform to decided which content 'deserves' a payout and which does not ?
If this abuse is not curbed it will hinder the growth of the platform and i am thinking that is exactly what some people here are aiming for.
Who is qualified to judge? How much SP you have should not determine that. I rarely flag, but it will be for blatant spam and cynical money grabs. Only the whales can deal with the worst cases. I want Steemit to be a good experience for those who come with good intentions. Of course some will try to exploit it. That is why we need moderation tools. My power of fairly low, but I do what I can.
buying votes is necessary for people with smaller followings though. if you want to hit trending or hot you HAVE to buy the votes unless you have thousands of followers.
however, some people do abuse it so I can agree with you on that.