There is definitely an issue here, but I'm not sure what the answer is. I think it's pretty remarkable that so many of the whales in this community have really been great advocates for the platform and have acted in its best interest. The problem is, there was surely going to be some people that got in when the price was high and ransacked the place. Self upvoting in general is iffy, but that would just keep honest people honest, since there are pretty simple ways to do it anyways.

I'm not sure how this would/could be addressed but it does seem like the least Ned could do is make some sort of statement about what he thinks about the issue. Even an argument in favor of things staying the same would be better than silence I think.