I think merit should be removed, and default red trusting restored to people like Lauda, ATH, ThePharmacist etc.

There are countless posts made everywhere, especially topics tens of pages long, that are good quality and are not merited. The system of meriting every good quality post is an impossible one.

Rather, once a shitposter is identified, they can have their account permanently flagged as was the case before. I found the former system to be much more effective. Putting EVERYTHING the way it was before will just generally be better for everyone, and still discourage shitposting due to the "one time red flag" nature of things.