But it is not true that we are moving toward a position where the Steem pool will no longer be distributed to post payouts
It is just a hardfork away to change :D
Maybe one of your problems is that more and more people join year over year?
All things equal, this makes the competition higher and as the inflation drop off starts to take effect, Steem even more scarce. Good times.
What I do not understand is why you and others are missing out on accumulate STEEM when it is cheap, accessible.
Why do you think I am missing out :P