I don't see that distinction at all, for what it's worth, and while there are things I have liked about Lobste.rs, I don't think it's a more authentic community than this one. Either way, so long as there is karma, there's an arb to run between Lobste.rs and HN, and people are going to run it. Fighting it seems like a waste of energy.
Eliminating karma is probably not a bad idea, I don‘t think it will stifle submissions, but it may improve commenting dynamics.