"On the blockchain, the code is the law of the jungle..."

It most certainly is not. It's written to enable specific mechanisms, and those mechanisms aren't just the most powerful take all the power they can. I absolutely agree the white paper speaks with a forked tongue, and liars lie for reasons. The code is a feint at decentralization, and Steem is utterly controlled by the ninjaminers.

That feint is convincing, and eliminating the weight of stake created by the ninjamine would fix a lot of things. That's not why the ninjamine was undertaken, I'm sure you'll agree. The ninjamine reveals the actual motivations of the devs, and here we are as their failure to grasp that actual markets create value shoots them in the foot.

Less greed = more profit. Concentrating all the Steem in their wallets is preventing them from becoming billionaires. This is why I am unsure they are just greedy bastards and not actually doing something different from simply profiteering, as it's a fairly simple idea, and they're not particularly stupid people. They may not be seasoned investors, but they're smart guys, and have had three years to grasp the concept.