It doesn't matter that you wouldn't say it's stealing because it is stealing no matter what your opinion is on it. Taking money out of the system for not contributing (spamming) is stealing.
Flagging bad content keeps the rewards pool more full of money to give to good content, so you're wrong, and it is a winnable war, but you're not going to win by giving up before you start. I'd rather see a lot of things as well, but I do like dealing with reality. Yes, spam getting votes is part of the problem, but it's not all of the problem Things aren't as black and white and simple as you'd like them to be.