You're not going to have reasonable discussions on reddit. Or here, for that matter. If you want serious discussion, hit-and-run style up/down comment systems

You're not going to have reasonable discussions on reddit. Or here, for that matter. If you want serious discussion, hit-and-run style up/down comment systems are not what you're looking for. The up/down system acts mostly as a psychological reinforcing mechanism, to get people addicted to checking their karma or points or whatever. Moderation at this level really just hurts discussion and makes it a popularity contest. Things that people agree with go up, things that are controversial (that spur actual debate) go down. And it will all be forgotten in a day. It's junk food conversation. The equivalent of the online water cooler. Usenet, mailing lists, forums, or even IRC are all much better places for discussion than reddit. The hivemind and clique behavior exists within all these places as well, but usually your words stand much better chance of being on equal footing.