very well said ... all of it...
I particularly like your points elaborating on how the RC SHOULD be handled. Frankly, this was the mistake they made that really really turned me away from trying too hard. My gut told me that it was going to dry up the flow of new people, and while I tried to make the points at the time, nobody with any power seemed to care. Wasting too much of my time on a dying platform was my feeling, so I really have been way less involved than I used to be. Thank goodness for Steemmonsters or I would've probably left completely.
I still have all the steem I've ever made, and I'm sure I'll continue with it until the lights are turned off. I just wish one day you'd see the power peeps take the time to wade through these types of posts (and comments), to really learn how the users feel and the great ideas to make things better!