Perhaps. Perhaps not. I tend to think more highly of people than that, but perhaps I'm just a silly old optimist.

You seem to misunderstand the 'No Thanks' - why would one 'No Thanks' a thread/post they disagreed with? Makes no sense to me. Now, posts that were in some way 'challenging', perhaps? IN other words, why would you say 'No Thanks' to this thread, just out of interest? Cos it's a stupid idea? Perhaps. I hope it didn't offend your sensibilities

Trust (sic) me when I say: reputation systems can work in two directions in order to manage what is said, and the community is that which can manage these things. Thanks is a one way street. Just like email at the start of the internet, it works because people are nice. Not everyone is, and communities can police themselves. The Slashdot model isn't terribly bad, btw, and takes a lot of the load from e.g. Reggie: there's more than one moderator around, don't forget.