Yes, I've mentioned the poor utility of the bucket of crabs approach in the comments of my recent post on Steemit's issues.
The concept does not work simply because humans are smarter than crabs. Just as the major banks of the U.S. got together and formed a cartel on Jekyll Island, so too are the "whales" here uniting to control the rewards pool.
We need to work together on bringing this to an end if we're to make Steemit anything more than a short-lived circle-jerk.