That being the case, the downvote reinforced my point. And if that is the opinion, I'm happy to receive it. Imagine if someone removed that ability, THAT is the crux of my argument.
I'm not sure how votes are actually getting traded as you claim, but it certainly is a type of self-upvote scheme.
I like the fact that you're so open minded @joshman
I still disagree how downvotes can (and are) being abused (and there is no way to counter it).
If only everyone who uses downvote would also put some effort into contacting their 'target' and explaining reasons behind downvote. But it's often simply not happening :(
Yours
Piotr