Most people who get upset about how many points that are being distributed have more points than they know what to do with and have no idea how hard it is for lots of the elite to even give away one point. Merit from this perspective is centralized as its definitely being controlled by they few!
That isn't really true. Every merit that I award creates almost one other merit in the community, and those are distributed amongst all levels of decent posters.
Im not sure how one merit can create another one as the majority of people cant give merit back to other people. Its a bit like being able to vote but only if your of a certain age that will allow you to vote. You can say someone does a good job but they cant say it back.
That said it was a sweeping statement and your merit distribution and many of the others in this thread look to be well thought out tbf.
Receiving 1 merit gives you half a sMerit, so for every 2 merits you get, you have one to send to others. It's like being able to vote but only if you contribute, which isn't a bad thing.