I do not think Merit is hard to get , as long as you have knowledge, constructive, and valuable post to contribute of this forum, it is possible to get Merit easily ,and to rank your position up.
I am replying to your comment so i can come back and see how easy it is for you in a few months time. I have seen a lot of people who make very educative posts but are still at zero.
There has been rumours that some people are hoarding the merits so that others do not rank up and take higher positions for the bounty campaigns. How true this is i do not know but i can tell you a lot of people with hundreds of good posts are still struggling to rank up