I also think the system is not generating enough merits but, in my case, Im not worried about ranking up. What I miss is the possibility of giving more merits for good posts.
I think the system would be improved if everybody above a certain rank would get some merits at the beginning of the month, like merit sources do. Not many, but maybe 5 for members 10 for full members and so on.
Its happened to me some times, and I think to many people, that I would have liked to give merit to a certain post but I couldn't.