Because the initial 5 week mining was Mint's distribution model; now it switches to Proof of State where new coins are awarded as interest on your existing holdings
At the moment rate it is several full dollars off from roi when mining it.
Who starts mining now will only lose money who mined earlier just got a huge advantage if the price goes near anything profitable again. In that case I'd have made 1000 usd profit in a week.
Because the coin is not designed to be raped and dumped by ASICs and multipools. It's designed to be distributed and invested.