Only if HN were to give members a fixed number of upvotes per original posting -- or per day, hour, week, etc. -- and let the members dispense those upvotes as

Only if HN were to give members a fixed number of upvotes per original posting -- or per day, hour, week, etc. -- and let the members dispense those upvotes as they see fit. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumulative_voting#Use http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumulative_voting#Use.