But how can you determine something is "overpaid" without relying on the consensus of all the other votes? I don't see how you can know something is or isn't overpaid without a market consensus and if you decide arbitrarily, without any justification, then you harm the user experience.
Where we differ is, I do not assume that I alone can or should determine the value of a post. I consider that if a lot of other people find value in it then even if I don't personally see why they value it so much, I do not have enough information to determine it's overpaid unless I know a lot about the person receiving the payment.
For example if a millionaire posts on here and gets lots of big rewards then the fact that we all know he is a millionaire, we could say he's being over paid because we know his net worth and that he doesn't really need the money. On the other hand, most of the people abusing the downvote are voting in a way which judges the author as much as the content, so they are saying with their vote "you are being paid too much and I don't like it8" but without any justification as to what "too much" is or why they don't like it. This could easily have the author think the voter is singling them out and does not like them personally.
Because other authors might post similar content and not be voted down, it will harm the user experience for that author but also for other authors who see they can be downvoted for no reason at all or for completely arbitrary reasons which very well might be personal. And thats the problem with it.
Yes, this is one (of a handful) of the big problems with the downvote. Nicely articulated!
OK, you've made your point quite well and I begin to understand your concerns: if an author has an audience it's quite inappropriate to come and shut down the show.
But the thing is we have the flag tool. So if I really want, I can come and intervene anyway. The status quo just makes the emotional tension bigger that it needs to be and prevents nothing. That's why I propose to give people a way to do what they can do and will do anyway but at least minimize the negative aspect associated with flagging.