It will definitely be interesting to see what happens with this hardfork @timcliff, and I think you hit the nail on the head with the statement that we need a culture change in order for this all to work out.
I definitely hope HF.21 takes us in the right direction.
For me (and maybe I am just totally out in left field with this) one of the "elephants in the room" that never gets talked about is a general lack of definition of what "this" actually IS. And — more specifically — the great emphasis often placed on the primary sales pitch to the external world (about Steem and all the communities) of "make money."
Truthfully? Most of us are here to make money, but there's a semantic disconnect in using that particular approach.
Why?
To MOST people (and ESPECIALLY those "trolling" for sources of "money for nothing") the idea of "making money" suggest that I DO something, get paid, and then walk away and buy a cup of coffee, or a pizza.
Why is this a problem? Because the implication is that we're all about current income (which drains the system and puts downward pressure on the price of Steem) rather than investing and gaining from longer term appreciation.
Hence, there is a HUGE difference between "create content and get paid" and "create content and become a stakeholder."
THAT, right there, surely must also be part of the cultural change we need to strive for, here...
I do share a lot of your optimism and hope for this community, but something has to give, in terms of how we approach telling others (externally) about what we have here!
=^..^=