I'd love to see some stats on the relative numbers, but it seems hard to believe that if most of the whales did the right thing - i.e. curate good content, and output quality content themselves - that their collective SP power couldn't overwhelm the spammers and vote farmers.

In a way, this place is like a perfect example of the Prisoners' Dilemma. And to throw another thought experiment into the mix, it's like a Tragedy of the Commons. While everyone thinks that the other is taking advantage of the system, they lose out if they don't likewise take advantage of it. Perhaps the whales need to go on a team-building retreat where they all catch each other while falling and crawl around in mud together, to build some team spirit... ;)