This Merit System became an issue these days.
This Merit system is issue for spammers and bounty hunters. Most people like to rank up their accounts for bounties without doing quality posts. That's why bitcointalk changed rules. I have seen newbies also earned lot of Merit.
It is not an issue for people who contribute to the forum and those who are not coming to this forum simply enticed by the smell of "free cash and free bitcoin" which is widespread in the internet (read dust faucets).
If you have contributed to the forum and have helped people out I am sure they will have merited you at some point of time or the other. Dont come here simply running after bounties and all. Join the discussions and gradually you will see your merits increase when people start to appreciate your contributions.