By default, Lemmy allows downvotes globally. However, when a server disables downvoting, it is similar to using a feature that is usually reserved for enterprises and very small, non-federated communities.
If a user prefer to not see downvotes, they can disable it by his favourite client settings, but the rest of the community should not miss this functionality for the pleasure of few users.
After commenting for a while in this thread… I think I agree, we need to go back to the forums and actually engage as users, it’s too easy to upvote/downvote and move on, that would only mean the post was actually useless or forgettable and makes posting propaganda extremely easy since nobody calls you out on it.
This old doomer agrees with you.