Count me out, I'd rather see the problems correct themselves than to appeal to authority and off their heads.
The people making curation awards undesirable are the problem, not the math that lets them do it.
If we rely on authority, rather than community standards, we end up with a community that cheer the bread and circuses just before the collapse of the system.
We got plenty of that IRL, why would we encourage it here?
Better that we disparage those that abuse Steemit just to mine the rewards, than we take a feature that holds much appeal for many people.
Imo,...
This really isn't a matter of appealing to authority. If anything, authority would typically take a position of preserving the status quo. Proposing that we change the rules of the system is not a bad thing if it makes the platform better. Sometimes a system is setup in such a way that it cannot / will not correct itself without some outside intervention.
I'd think that whales down voting your account for mining curation awards would clear up in misconceptions about community standards.
Whales loose out on curation rewards if they downvote a post.
So, do we want whales that help, or farm the system themselves?
Shouldn't they play this role in the ecosystem?
Keeping it safe for the small fry?
Taking out the sharks that game the system?
What do you propose?
Whales downvote abusers.