Also if you read the whole criteria about merit system you can found that new member don't need to merit untill they reach Jr. rank... For Jr rank you just need activity on the forum. And I think once new member become Jr member he or she able to enough understanding about the forum. So that's way new member can also make quality post because the whole journey of getting Jr rank he or she learned a lot in this forum... so I think merit system is really very scientific and meaningful system of this forum. And some people also may think that previous members get merit automatically but i said they deserved it because they contributed so many things on this forum... So it's a equal opportunity for all..
This is just my thought on the merit system..
I removed red color hope now it's make you feel better...