I agree with you that burning the downvotes reward would have been good incentive to downvote if it had been like that from a while ago. But today that would be too little too late.
Your Alice and Bob example assume both content are equally mediocre, in reality one has to be less mediocre and therefore of higher quality. It's a step in the right direction.
Since the financial incentives are the reasons for whales to vote and bidbot use, quality of content is irrelevant. Profiteers don't care.
I flag trash. You have received a flag.
This is EXACTLY an example of how downvoting should not be used @Steemitblog @vandeberg. Real user commenting something true, retaliatory downvote by what seems to be a bot.
What the fuck is @iflagtrash?
One of @berniesanders many bots.
I flag trash (and morons). You have received a flag.