If you limit the influence of the whales, where is the incentive to buy more steem? By setting up things to make content work, but handcuffing the whales, you are going to get a decent content platform but the token will have no value as no whales will buy in.

I actually think you need to be doing the opposite and make it as rewarding as possible to be a whale. Encourage everyone to buy as much steem as possible by creating incentives to do so. We should be focusing on getting and keeping as much steem powered up as possible, and the rest should be a distant second.