I have over 200 sMerits available, and rarely do I award merit to posts. Most of the time I encounter good and informative post only to find out that it's a rehash of an article or just a copy-pasted one. Anyways though, AFAIK sMerits that aren't awarded for some time would just be gone, and I'm cool with that, and I think it's already a 'punishment' of some form. Instead of ranting about the merit holders not awarding merits, why not strive harder to receive a well-deserved one?
why do not you make a contest so that newcomers get merits for certain clamps? now it is very difficult for beginners to receive ranks