On a general note, these guys (legendary users) are presume to not need merit just because they have achieved the highest rank possible, merit can get them. Therefore must of their quality contributions goes unrewarded which shouldn't be so. Give them a break.
There seems to be 2 schools of thought regarding this.
One is what you're saying, and indeed I would rather give a merit to someone who is still trying to rank up than a Legendary. However, I do give out more merits to Legendaries than I should, simply because I tend to interact with them more, as the crowd I roll with.
The other is that Legendaries get more merits than they should simply because they are Legendaries... As I type that I realize it doesn't make much sense, but that's what some people truly believe.
For me, I was on a mission to prove to myself that I could become a "self-made Legendary," and then it happened just yesterday, 1.5 years after the introduction of the merit system. It took me less time to become a self-made Legendary than it did a Legendary.
Anyway, I don't comment in this thread much, and I don't remember how I got here, but I'm sending you a merit for your post.