With the addition of SMTs, I think conversations will migrate naturally to the tribes and communities. In the end, Steem will be either (i) a reward token for "the Steem cheerleading tribe"; or (ii) basically just a utility token where earning author and curation rewards is so impossibly difficult as to be irrelevant for most of us.

I don't think it's a good idea to take the rewards out of the protocol, though - at least not any time soon. Things should just happen naturally. Eliminating rewards for Steem would seem like a bait & switch to many people, and there's enough FUD out there already. Steem doesn't need that publicity.