The majority of other posts doing so were downvoted not for their message but due to the fact they were expressing it in the form of a personal attack against the OP.

The value posts like this provide to the community is to allow us to have a period of introspection, evaluating where we were as a community and how we've changed, and if that change has been for the better or for the worse.

I agree that if they occur frequently without adding new information into the discussion they have less value, but I don't feel we've got to that point. If people don't step up and make posts like this then we're run the very real risk of not noticing a deterioration in our community until it becomes too late to fix that problem.

A high-quality HN is to the benefit of all HN users, not just those most active in the community.