I agree with you that the $10/$15 problem you mentioned needs to be fixed.

However, I think the idea of paying yourself has a value for the currency.

It is the incentive to keep your money in Steemit. If you didn't have that, people would just immediately pull out their earnings. There would be less reason to keep it in Steemit. As it stands though, there is an incentive for people to keep their money in this currency.