Not to be too snarky, but your profile shows you've been a member for less than a year -- complaining about the "new kids" is rather ironic.
If your account is less than a year old, please don't submit comments saying that HN is turning into Reddit. (It's a common semi-noob illusion.)
I don't think being defensive of quality is a bad thing though. It's often unnecessary, but I'd say that's better than being under-cautious.
Most realities are harsh to accept; but that doesn't change anything. Don't you see that some non-sense posts are making at the top here? And that is happening more too often?
I don't deny that today HN has the best of Internet and Techie crowd; but it is also a fact that there is also some junk. So let's accept it.
And yea guys, thanks for the down rating; much appreciated.