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Don't want to get too off topic here, and I like your enthusiasm, but I would disagree strongly with the implementation of such an idea.
Merit is already treated by many as a "I like this/I agree with this" button rather than a "This is a constructive post/This adds to the topic at hand, regardless of whether or not I agree with it" button. A de-merit button would be treated the same, with many users using it on posts they do not like or disagree with, rather than posts which are simply spam, zero value, etc. There is no doubt people would use de-merit against users who accuse them of something, give them red trust, or simply disagree with them. I also have no doubt that there would be merit circles who would conspire to heavily de-merit users they do not like.
Having such a set up essentially turns us in to an echo chamber like Reddit, where the most popular opinions are the most visible, regardless of whether or not they are actually correct.
We already have (multiple) rules against this sort of behavior from BADecker. We just need to actually enforce them.
Couldn't have said it better myself, I understand the reason why de-merit could possibly be a solution, however, it won't be treated correctly, which is entirely understandable for the reasons o_e_l_e_o mentioned. On top of that, it could potentially be abused from higher tier members to lower ranked ones that may not like or agree with, resulting in a bullying situation, something we're certainly not striving for.
My two cents, moderate sections with controversial subjects, such as Politics & Society, handle any reports made fair and rightfully, without taking advantage of the moderator position (another user already volunteered to do it), encourage more self-moderated threads to avoid BADeckers, as an effort for thread creators to avoid spam and shitposting, not to enforce their opinion. It's totally fine by me to have an opposite opinion about Covid-19 or anything else, however, I can show numerous examples of BADecker and a few other users who share similar characteristics with him, trashing my threads.
