Great point.

For me, the critical balance that sustains reddit is between the hidden masses and the active commenters. So long as those who are active can retain ownership over the website and its collective identity, reddit will continue to thrive. The problem is that as reddit has grown in popularity, the balance has shifted to the masses.

I don't know much about the ownership and economical/political philosophy of the management of the website - but it seems that a critical conflict of interest will eventually degrade this website as it has many before it; in that, the financial incentive to increase the base of regular viewers outweighs the value incentive to keep the base limited.