If the vast majority of the community doesn't like this move can't we just ignore the new patch and refuse to upgrade?
Go ahead. :-) I think you will be disappointed however.
How so? If the vast majority stick with the 0.8.1 client I think the 0.8.2 client people would be disappointed.
Well they are fixing things in the upgrade releases, so I think in general you will want to upgrade. If not now, then eventually. Bitcoin is still Beta level software- there are still quite a few bugs to be worked out.