RE: Why do some authors think that cussing adds value. Or why don't we have a real down vote?
Does muting tell the muted person that he was muted? A down vote (from one like me wioth little or no power) would not change his rewards, but it might give him an idea that some few don't like the gutter talk, and it might cause him to soften his language going forward.
Many years ago I was reading a book or article (I forget which) in which the well respected author (he was a computer scientist) said that the most predictive measure of a person's future success was his mastery of his native language. Expletives rarely show mastery.
I don't think I am in favor of most of the processes you propose to avoid a real down vote mechanism. I still think that the down vote (not a flag) would be a gentle indication that there were aspects of the post that at least som found undesireable.
Finally, I am not requesting that a person be drawn and quartered, and I see no need to be overly polite to a person that, in effect comes into my house and uses a superfulity of distasteful expletives.
No, muting is not visible outside the web interface, it is not recorded on the blockchain. I don't know how much study of sociology, or for that matter, direct experience at how powerful shunning is, that you have. It's not an instant win like a punch in the face. A few weeks go by, and this individual is also shunned by others, and they start to mend their ways, or scarper off to greener victim-pastures.
Swearing neither affirms nor diminishes the linguistic skill.
You can advocate freely towards punitive measures against social abuse behaviours as much as you like. I am just telling you, as a long time victim of this, that the most effective tactic is shunning.
The thing that you clearly don't understand is that these kinds of lowlife are all about getting attention. It's not about you, it's not about pushing you down, but rather the relative position change that they cause when you act like an idiot and get upset. Buddhism is a religion where this lesson is widely taught, and look at Asia. Why do you think asians are so well mannered and humble? Because it benefits society more to just look straight past these pigs, and ultimately, become so oblivious to them it is as though they don't exist. This forces them to adopt honest tactics of acquiring attention.
I will concede that your knowledge of these things exceeds mine, and I think I will reconsider using a downvote as an enforcing mechanism for political correctness. Nevertheless, I still think that having a real downvote capability would be useful in some contexts (although I can't bring one to mind on demand ;-)