Been powering up every think I get since I started. I heard that SP was necessary basically to get going and get ahead. I only wish I'd had more SBD's when they went up so drastically compared to Steem.
I read an article just yesterday, can't recall the author :(, but it was about the question of why isn't Steem going up like many of the rest of the altcoins with BTC. A conclusion I heard from it was Steemit is not leading with the strongest angle for investors, speed of transactions with no fees, but for those who want to make money. This has the potential to attract scammers and those who want something for little or nothing, and makes people skeptical of the platform.
With this in mind, powering up and essentially locking in your investment becomes a risky adventure if you are skeptical. You're right, powering up should be a no brainer, if you trust the platform.