If I could ask a couple questions in reaction to your text, they would be:

What informed your expectations of the reddit experience? Was it reddit's own marketing? Recommendations from people you know? Did you have a preconceived notion of how a site like reddit would feel and work? Maybe the dissonance you're feeling results from being let down by what the reddit is vs. what you hoped it would be.

I mention this not to disparage your desires because they are as legitimate as anyone elses. I would wager though that for every person that seeks deep discussion and thoughtful consideration there is another looking to laugh at some absurd memes and move on with their day, or yet another who finds enjoyment in the "karma race". I don't think we could say that their desires are less legitimate than yours.

One other thought: It is my understanding that the intention of reddit was for users to find these small community subreddits rather than spend time in a global feed. It's easy to get hung up on the fact that a bunch of bigotry gets posted in the frontpage articles, but I for one don't see any of it because I have unsubscribed from all of it.