a1. Unfair to the newbie that came to this forum for knowledge and possible earn. Those guys who have been earlier were not required to have this to ranked up.
That is why merit was given to challenge newbies to post quality. Even it was not merited it is okey, just continue to write helpful post.
Sorry I just feel that the merit system is unjust. Bitcoin is the foundation of our forum. Being decentralized is one of the best features of bitcoin. Adding Merit feels like we are centralizing power to those who are on top!!..
Unjust if we does not apply the rules but look around in meta section you can find that it is applied not just for newbies or jr but for all.
FYI, Decentralized doesn't have relation to merit.