Well, they can do both. I agree that there shouldn't be rules to stop them from upvoting their own post, but I have no problem with people adjusting those votes with downvotes. Flagging and downvotes really should be two separate systems as they address different issues, and I doubt we would be having this conversation if they were different things. Also, there are protections in place to deter people from downvoting frivolously. For frivolous upvotes, the people are the protection mechanism.
I think it's wrong to silence people for voicing an opinion and have expressed that with the OP. However, I also think downvoting is appropriate when they feel someone is getting a disproportionate piece of the pie.
And I respect your decision, but instead of using your SP on downvoting you could use it to upvote someone else, that is my main point.
I think this could be a never-ending issue, because we will not stop upvoting him when he is a main source to our financial freedom, and his following is only growing from all the attention.
I fear the situation will escalate.
I personally haven't downvoted haejin. The reason why simply upvoting other post doesn't address the issue is because each of those upvotes are worth less because of the abuse carried out by rancho.
ETA: If rancho had not stopped, those upvotes would have continued to be worth less and less each day.