I'm not totally sold on it being strictly based on karma. I created my account just over over 1800 days ago and I only have 299 karma. I visit HN 4 or 5 times a

I'm not totally sold on it being strictly based on karma. I created my account just over over 1800 days ago and I only have 299 karma. I visit HN 4 or 5 times a day most time to read a few articles and read through the comments. The fact that someone can join and grind for a week or two to get to 500 and be allowed to down vote seems silly when after over 250 weeks of quiet participation I'm unable to do the same. Unless the goal is to push for user participation, in which case I guess I get it on some level.