I had to read this and think about it. At first I did not agree but now I think you are right. The "lottery" type feeling is no good. At the same time rewarding peoples work is good. I have definitely benefited from the reward.

Now when I do a deep think about it am curious as to the the sats spent verses gain. I think the key here as that by being a reader and not necessarily a writer you can get paid for zapping great content. Thus you are performing a service. Otherwise you are assmilking ( @DarthCoin ) and assmilking has no reward.

One of the original attractions to Stacker News was that you could be rewarded for reading. You are a paid editor and not just a vanity press operator.