My gut based on having been here about a year is that the inflation does balance. Here are the nodes of mine that have managed to get near or into Best Nodes. (I really don't remember which made it there, but they were relatively close.) Not one survived there (though one is temporarily back thanks to the list being extended):

1. The path to mastery
2. Threads vs Forking (Java vs Perl)
3. The nature of work (this had the longest stay)
4. Why I like functional programming
5. Random thoughts on programming (Did this get there?)
6. Re (tilly) 1: How does strict work? (Another I am unsure on)
7. Stay aware of security
8. Is PerlMonks economically viable?

Also note that a node from last week is (as of this post) within 7 points of getting onto the top 10. Even after the last week nodes go out, there is some upwards momentum. If a few people referred to it as a good node elsewhere, those 7 votes could be reached. And with some more inflation, it already would have been reached.

No matter how impossible the goals in Best Nodes seems, don't underestimate inflation. The best nodes of today would have been on the best nodes of all time when I started. There is a lot of turnover in best nodes. Not if you watch it. But note the list, go away for a couple of months, and look again...