see the Steem pool as a shared wallet between a group of people where any purchase made has an opportunity cost and affects all others in the group and their ability to purchase.
This is exactly like cash-money-dollars.
If fewer people SPEND cash-money-dollars, then the cash-money-dollars that DO get spent are worth MORE (deflation, reduced liquidity).
If MORE people spend cash-money-dollars, then the cash-money-dollars that get spent are worth LESS (inflation, increased liquidity).
If you could stop people (through some mechanism, like downvoting) from purchasing dumb stuff, or stop them from tipping drivers and servers and hair-stylists, THEN your money would be worth slightly MORE than it currently is worth.