Besides the example above, can someone help me try to justify the need for merit sources?
Merit Sources are given the job of giving away merit, while the rest of us can spend or "save" our merit as we see fit. Additionally, the Merit Sources have been chosen because they have the right eye for a quality post, one that provides a real contribution to this community. That contribution could be an educational post, meaningful reply, or thought provoking question.
But right now, why don't we make every 10 merits we recieve, translate to 8 or 10 sMerit?
You're not proposing much here. Currently every 10 merits you receive creates 5 merits for you to spend. You're just asking to increase that rate by 60-100%. Why? What's the point of the small boost?