I agree that some members are involved in merit abuse at large scale but you should not loose all motivation because of this. Just leave this to the staff as they are already taking action against such accounts.

Regarding you wanting to earn some money here, there is nothing wrong with it and the merit system is not enforced to stop new members from participating in these signature campaigns. It is to fight against the spam and users who are here with good intent need not worry at all. Keep posting quality posts and merit will follow.