I really understand your point and the users who use this forum should have the main purpose as a place of education or learning related to bitcoin or cryptocurrency.
But it is not impossible that there are many users who live only for money without wanting to make any contribution to the forum. I've been through this period before but I started looking for other ways out and motivation to stay put and increase my contribution. I'm starting to enjoy it now and it's been getting a lot of support from other contributors.
It seems to me that over time it is becoming increasingly difficult to stay on the forum just for the money without making any contribution. Maybe some users don`t really want to do it, but due to rules that change and the behavior of other participants that is transformed by these changes, they are obliged to make some contributions. Otherwise, they can`t satisfy the desire to make money. Merit system really helps with that.
However, there are still loopholes for such members. For example, I often come across accounts that have either very little or no merit at all earned over the life of this system. But they continue to take part in signature campaigns because they have reached a certain level before the new rules were introduced. They live normally even as a full member, not to mention those who have been seniors and heros before merits were born.