Handing out currency to miners is no more and no less ethical than handing them out to the founders of a new currency. Use a currency if it serves your purposes and don't if it doesn't. Stop whining, Bitcoin doesn't exist to give you mining income or to let you get rich from any stash of bitcoins you might have amassed when they were still cheap. If Ripple takes off, it will be great for both BTC and XRP. If XRP ends up out-competing BTC, fine. It that means your bitcoins will become worthless, then boo-hoo-hoo.