Steemit, Inc. and the early adopters currently hold all the power, but one day it may be the big corporations who bought the most SP. There will always be a group holding the most SP, and they will be the ones with the power. You may think that by relinquishing all their influence it will give rise to some genuinely altruistic community of friendly Steemians - but there is nothing saying a group you will dislike even more may fill that void.
This exactly supports @masteryoda's point. Too much concentrated power is not a good thing regardless of who happens to hold it.
I'm not really arguing in favor of concentrated power. I am actually in favor of the opposite. I would like to see more SP in the hands of the "average user" and 'dolphins', and less in the hands of the original founders early adopters.
The way that we get there is important though. I am not in favor of the current power holders just voluntarily relinquishing their control and not using their power/influence.
I know it is a painstakingly slow process, but the way things are going we are at least moving in that direction. As more whales cash out portions of their stake, and more users cash in their rewards (both pushing the price down lower), other users will be able to accumulate more SP and move up the ranks. I know that's what I'm doing, but I certainly don't expect to have @dantheman or @ned's level of influence anytime soon! I don't know about you, but personally I think that's probably a good thing :)
[Edit] I certainly would be in favor of other ideas that move towards shifting power away from the select few, and into the hands of masses. One example that I am in favor of is the "curation guild" idea that they have been discussing - although we'll have to wait and see how it is actually implemented to be sure. I'm sure there are other good ideas too, that I could support. Asking the current holders of power to abstain from using their influence though does not seem the right way to do it (in my opinion).
I think the idea of motivating big SP holders to keep most of SP in "non-voting form" by providing higher interest rate, as it was described here https://steemit.com/steemit/@l0k1/steem-preferred-stocks-benefits-of-a-type-of-steem-power-that-does-not-confer-voting-power could do the trick
Hey @timcliff - please pass by my post for a visit. Your comment was inspiring!! https://steemit.com/steemit/@mindhunter/a-1-5-pre-mine-of-steem-power-by-the-founders-is-acceptable-an-80-pre-mine-of-steem-power-by-the-founders-is-not-acceptable
"Send for the @mindhunter + Superhorse!!"
I don't really agree with your position, heh. I will reply to your post.