This is how an election works. I know people who are voting forTrump and I'm voting for Clinton. But those Trump voters are not voting for Trump  because they are trying to negate my vote, they are voting for Trump because they took a bad fall and now they believe he'll make a better president than she will. If I downvote your steemit post, and my downvote was made because I think the post is a piece of shit, and then someone else upvotes your post because they think its great, the two of us both exersized our right to vote.
   Also in this democrassy people talk politics all the time. People exchange opinions and get into arguments about who would be better. I can't count the number of conversations I've had about this election and the last one. I have no way to know if those conversations changed the minds of others, or which conversations made me change my  mind on specific policies, influencing how I vote for state and national officials.
 There are not enough anarchists voting for the purposes of nullification to make this an election issue.

True True :)

With the reputation system now here, I think the time has come to scrap downvoting to remove rewards.

500 minnows and dolphins can decide they want to reward a post only for one whale to wipe out their decision.

We should allow users (including whales) to 'flag' content as "abuse" and hit the posters reputation only. 
Previous voters have the option to unvote a post, if they feel the reason the content is being flagged is warranted.

@dantheman's analogy with electoral voting is flawed. In electoral voting you nullify votes by voting *for* someone else. On this platform, the same can be done. If I don't like post x, I can effectively negate it (monetarily) by voting for posts y & z. There is no right (in an electoral system) to vote for y & z **and** rip up a vote or two for x.

Downvoting gives too much power to the haves over the have nots IMO.

The amount of money in your pockets is on public display and this is very unique in itself which can have unpredictable consequences as an experiment. Steemit is an experiment and the Dollar Payout being public is an experimental feature. So far do you think Public Dollar Payout is a UX feature which is beneficial?

status-qou is based upon people not having the ability to express real options.  The Left / Right paradigm has created an environment where the people much choose between two evils.   I think you would find a very different center than the current status-quo.

@venuspcs you and I started on steemit around the same time.   I believe we both started with steem power of 10.  
I have made 1326 posts (most comments, replies, etc) and I now have 625 steem power and I've been here almost a month.   I consider that a pretty good return.    I haven't landed the massive posts, that pay big payouts.   That is not solely why I am here.

You (whom I have been following since before following worked) have posted 558 posts on your @venuspcs account and yes you get a lot more votes than I do.  I am actually fine with that.  I up vote a lot of your stuff.   You have been on the trending page at least once, if not several times, and you've had multiple posts break $1000.   I think I cleared $300 on a post once.    Sure the majority of your posts don't make much.   ALL of them make something.   I have posts that I worked hard on that made $0.00, and I have many well below $1.    I am not complaining about that.  ***I am making something in a field of endeavor where previously I made nothing (reddit, forums, etc).***   So your description is not entirely accurate based upon the numbers.

Though I will continue to follow your work as I enjoy quite a bit of your stuff.

Ultimately how much someone else is making on their post is not my concern.   It is the fact that I do have the opportunity to make something.    A vote worth $0.00 means something to me.   A vote worth $0.01 means something to me.   A vote worth $100.00 certainly excites me and makes me happy.   Yet that is not what it is about.

If you look at how much you've made in a month with your now 4700 steem power, you asked us the other day if you should quit trucking.   If you continue to do that well, you probably safely could, yet that is still your decision.

I post a lot... that doesn't mean people view the quality of my posts as being worthy of votes and money.   I am long winded and opinionated.    So are you, but ***your posts are a hell of a lot more amusing and entertaining than mine.  :)   So I think you deserve more money than me.***   That is my opinion.    Guess what?   It is working you've gone from 10 steem power to 4700 steem power in the same time I've gone from 10 to 625.   Most of my earnings have been reinvested into steem power.   I didn't really dig to see if that is also the case with you.

I am pretty satisfied with the system except for the negative perception that a big flag/down vote can have on the perceived earnings of a person simply because someone disagreed.    I KNOW that the vast amount of the population will not understand that and it will be viewed as an attack.    I'd like to see the steem platform grow, and I'd like to see it crush reddit, youtube, etc and tons of other steem blockchain apps, sites, etc born.   It is  a revolutionary moment.    Yet perception DOES matter, so whether we think that people should be able to negate something and take perceived money away is acceptable or not DOES NOT change the perception of the masses.   We have some opportunities.   ***Do we leave it as it is and LIVE with that fact and take it as a mind changing, educational opportunity and just prepare for the "shit storm" (sorry was fitting) that will happen as more and more of the typical people join"?   Or do we do something to make it work yet head off some of those perceptions?***   It is kind of a catch-22.   If we educate people it will be harsh but would likely in the long term lead to a better world, if we "fix" it to promote PR better we grow the platform much faster yet we miss out on an educational mind awakening opportunity.

If the desire is to grow the platform fast then I'd say fix the issue with perception around funds.   If the desire is to long term make the world better and we are willing to wade through the flak and take a bit longer getting there then you could leave it as it is.

I do not advocate redistribution, or nerfing the reason to accumulate steem power.   Getting better payout is a big reason to increase steem power.   Increasing steem power locks the funds into the system and makes then much slower to get at (reduces liquidity) but also protects the system from being killed by people suddenly pulling all of their funds.   It makes it far more difficult for people to game the currency.