I disagree. People who are buying in are providing a very valuable service.
To start, the STEEM they buy that gets turned into SP removes it from the active market reducing the amount of STEEM that is available. Right now, there is roughly 60M token available on the open market (before Steemit's powering down) out of 260M. This only enhances the price of the token which garners it more value.
Another thing purchasing does it it puts a floor in. The worst thing for confidence is to have the token crash. That could cause people to start powering down out of fear. Having built in buyers ready to power up via purchase makes the holding of STEEM and SP stronger.
While the value of STEEM ultimately will be based upon the advancement of the blockchain, most look at price action as an indicator. I disagree with this approach but that is what many do. For this reason, I believe buyers of the token make it more valuable, not less.
This improves the entire blockchain.
Yes, 100%
New users buying STEEM is the only way the platform grows, so I'm not against that. Indeed, I'm about to buy STEEM myself - and will continue to do so - because I believe in the platform so much (long term too).
What I mean is, SP could be split, or weighted in favour of those who've been on the platform longest, and have contributed more to the community - maybe in combination with your Reputation score.
I just don't think you should be able to buy attention so easily, or the platform is liable to attract spammers and "get rich quick", snakeoil salesmen. Because it's not just about more users, more content, more profits...there has to be a way for the cream to rise to the top, rather than "bad actors" buying their way in.
Sharks don't play nicely with whales or dolphins, and when they smell blood in the water...