I think that the whole Mogul things was an example of a good use of downvotes. I do think that part of being a good steemian lies in ensuring that steem is a good environment, and part of that is reducing the visibility of scammers.
While "Buyer beware" makes sense, not everybody has the time, or the background to do a full investigation. Also, people who can spot scams will be put off Steem if they see scams on the trending page, so we do well to remove them when we can.
@dwinblood mentioned third party "investigators" to look into things like this, since you're right, not everyone has the time. I think that's a great idea.
A good idea, but who watches the watchers?
We'd just have to trust in their impartiality.
What if my definition of a good environment is different than yours. I honor freedom even above fiscal security. Not freedom for the scammer exactly, freedom for the person considering what the investment opportunities are. I would have never put a cent in this, but I want to make my own choice, not have others decide for me.
You are entering some really murky philosophical statement with that. I think that even the choices we think of as our own are often determined by our environment, and the people that surround us.
The fact is that the amount of opportunities that enter your awareness are always limited by something, and in this case you can think of the process as applying a filter to the opportunities that you are exposed to, thus reducing the cognitive load needed to evaluate them, and freeing up your resources for other things.
I am pretty sure I can be murky at times. :) I didn't ask anyone to "Free my cognitive load" though. Does that mean anything, isn't one presenting themselves as more qualified or some type of protector to me required to ask if I want their help? I want their opinion, but not their help - unless I ask.
I am not trying to be argumentative, I find hearing the argument for this interesting.