Free downvote pool is the unfortunate side effect of people unwilling to use their stake to help against actions similar to Haejin, bid bot abusers, etc.

Most people didn’t want to downvote before then because it earned them nothing. I was one of the minority that flagged things before that.

Now, it’s possible to push down undesirable content whilst upvoting those who need support.

It’s not perfect, but the only things we can change are incentives. The 12-hour thing has its drawbacks while address some other issues.