I dig what curie's doing. With things so lopsided on the voting right now, helping put more voting weight behind noobs. While some of the whales seem to put effort into promoting new talent, others are not. It's not "right" or "wrong". It just is what it is. The former is appreciated, but the later is understandable.
If all the whales were the latter, then Steemit would die. There's be no reason for the small dogs to keep coming if they didn't get a bone to help them along, at least until they get enough voting authority to start leveling the field more organically.
Curie offers a good solution. Ideally it wouldn't be needed. But, right now, their concerted effort helps to move talented minnows to dolphins more quickly. Failure to do so, whether it's by design or organic, is myopic and self-destructive, IMO.
Other similar efforts, such as RHW, minnowsunite and steemsquad help as well. Curie really seems to have gained traction and had the greatest impact though. Ideally more whales will get involved with trying to help the guppies grow.