A content driven reward pool is not an obstacle to build a second layer. In fact I would argue that having a distribution mechanism for none investors is necessary for a DPOS chain to avoid a degradation of the governance that can be attested on other networks such as EOS or Lisk...to name a few.

This whole discussion about removing the reward pool strikes me as an attempt to rationalize an agenda that seeks to have SP holders capture a bigger chunk of the inflation.

In fact, removing the curation game would create a situation where all investors would get the same yield on their stake which is not conducent to maximization of earnings. Currently a good curator can beat the inflation by being good at it. That would disappear with the proposal from Therealwolf.