I liked this post, and I agree with what you have said, however, there is a problem. You ask that we all vote for or against nodes, rather than people, and I agree that this ought to be the way voting is carried out. Unfortunately this is not only impossible to enforce, but also is somewhat unlike the voting we do in the real world. Consider the current Presidential race: George W. has been faulted for possibily using cocaine a few decades ago, and Al Gore has been faulted for been too "wooden". We often vote based on who we feel we "like" more, rather than on the issues (or in the case of perlmonks, what the node actually says). This is one of the reasons that I am nervous of the new XP system that rests on the reputations of your posts.

Ivory