Simply removing curation rewards would make the influence situation for the vast majority of users much better.
Right now, ~88% of the daily reward share distribution is given out by top 100 curators. That's 88% of all rewards for all posts being determined by 100 people. I'd put money on a bet that says the majority of the top 100 (at least 50) are curating primarily to gain a return on their investment.
The remaining ~4-5k users that cast votes every day make up the remaining 12% of the distribution..
Here's the kicker: posts are made visible based on the rewards they receive.
Add all these facts up and you're looking at a system where "popular" content is being driven by a small group of people motivated by profit. All while the vast majority of the population is under represented and lacking any meaningful influence.
If the incentive to curate content you think will earn a profit (for yourself) is removed, most likely some of the people curating will stop, which will reduce the influence of the top 100 and let others (with smaller balances) make a bigger splash in the rewards pool.
TLDR - Removing curation eliminates "for profit curation", which reduces whale activity, leaving more room for everyone else to make an impact.
RE: Whales - Can the community buy out a portion of your influence?