Thanks for taking the time to reply in depth :)
I'm thinking of creating an alternative app for steemit, but it would of course be built on the steem blockchain. That means I won't be able to change anything about the core, but I can control how things are displayed to end-users. That means:

1. I can't make votes anonymous per se, but I can choose not to display the names on the interface. Same with the payouts.
2. Spam reporting, on the other hand, can be anonymous because it would be off-chain and only effect the display of posts on the new interface.
3. I agree with your points about hiding comments, perhaps that should not be possible. Maybe only hide comments from users that have more than X spam complaints.
4. The new interface can't forbid the use of upvote bots, but it can filter out the results. So if you get a 100$ upvote from an upvote bot, it won't affect your ranking on the trending page and it's upvote won't add up to the number of upvotes. They can still earn their money, but they don't have to bother us with it :)

Lol, too much to type. Mostly just dreaming though, it'll be a massive undertaking and I just don't have the time. If I ever do get started I would definitely like to have your input and feedback if you're interested. You can find me under svosse#3328