High ranking spammers will never earn back their rank thanks to the Merit system. And although the Merit system can't stop the existing spam problem, it stopped it from getting worse.
You (KingZee) seem to be on a tirade against the Merit system. You've been gone from the forum for a while, so you've probably missed that many others did that before you. It's not going to change the Merit system.
In an ideal situation we wouldn't need the Merit system, or even better: all posts would deserve Merit. But we're far from that, and Merit is the best we've got for now.
The absolute best thing that's happened to this forum in recent months is implementation of merit required to be a Jr Member. I really liked Hilariousetc's opinion of requiring 10 merits, not just one (as I think it's a little too easy to beg for 1 merit), but at least it's a step in the right direction. Making it harder for spambots and bounty account farmers will radically improve the quality of posting on the forums.
And while I do agree that it can be challenging at time to get merit, if you are sincerely interested in Bitcoin and this forum for the long run, the merits will come, whether you're a newbie who just got on the forum or a oldie who's been inactive for awhile.