Participating does not in and of itself grow Steem. There are many milkers who are "participating" and doing nothing for growth. What matters more is the nature of the participation and how much various forms of participation actually align with growth and value add in practice.

The incentives need to be more precise framed and effectively targeted. HF21 is a sincere attempt to at least start do that. I respect your point of view if you disagree that's what it will accomplish, and I don't even necessarily disagree with the prediction but that is the purpose of it.