In a way, yes. But it's also nice to show the difference between an account farmer and a user who earned his Merit. I think a Newbie with 20 earned Merit is much more impressive than a Legendary with 0 earned Merit.
I can not disagre with LoyceV at this point.
Old undeserved high-rank members will be banned or red-tagged sooner or later anyway.
I don't think so.
Bans or red tags need reasons to occur, so if they don't violate forum rules, they won't be banned or get red tags from DT members.
Even they are shitposters, and repeatedly posting shit, they won't get bans or red tags if they won't violate forum rules.