How exactly is the merit system restricting your freedom of speech? You can still speak. May or may not get rewarded for it (if you consider merit a reward, which you seemingly don't, so that's even more confusing).
Edit: to answer OP's question - I'm rather ambivalent. Most users seem to be more concerned about reduced ability to whore out their rank than actual positive uses of this new system. Hopefully this will pass.
There are basically now two systems in (ab)use. The merit system is (ab)used as a reward and the trust sytem has been (ab)used already for a long time mostly as punishment. For some posts you are (theoretically) rewarded and for other posts punished. Of course you can post whatever you want, but you will get rewarded or punished. You cannot say that the forum governance endorses freedom of speech when not all utterances are treated equally. Of course in the streets of Pyongyang you are able to call Kim Jong-un a 'cunt' and a 'motherfucker', but that doesn't mean that North-Korea endorses freedom of speech.
On your second remark: You are 'whoring out' your profile like anyone else with your signature, aren't you?