Cut the excuses. The merit / trust system has driven many away that could have been retained and been useful.
I would really like to know how the case study behind that assumption, just out of curiosity. The merit / trust systems should not influence if a user uses more or it doesn't use the forum - most of the time they reflect a users personality - those that have good intentions, good personality and an overall positive atitude towards helping others - and they end up being rewarded with either merit, trust, or both. Also, a member can still post freely even with the merit / trust system, they aren't blocked from posting anywhere - as long as it's not spam / low content / goes against the rules. If they ended up leaving it wasn't for sure due to the trust / merit system.
Keep yourself out of drama by confining your posts to things that are demonstrably true and avoid posting bogus and misleading garbage in response to my undeniable and independently verifiable truths.
You can have all the reason in the world, but if you enter with that kind of stance in discussions - "Everything I say is true and undoubted and undeniable" - you'll loose your reasoning in no time. You seem to have a "beef" with someone or something, but you should let that kind of judgment cloud your mind to the point that you refuse to hear anyone else. If you have reasons to believe that you've dealt with injustice, gather up your evidence and open a report on the rightful thread.