My take on this for what it's worth. I have 6,000 posts roughly, so decide from that whether this is worth reading.
Firstly, people take the Internet way too seriously. This forum has several prominent members that have an attitude of "if your opinion doesn't match mine, you're wrong (and a ****)". They don't seem to understand the definition of opinion and the fact there's nothing wrong if people disagree, it prompts discussion which is the whole point of a forum. I firmly believe people use this forum as a parallel life where they can feel self importance they may not have in the real world. If you get defensive about me saying that, chances are you're one of the people I'm talking about. Some people just cannot cope with the prospect their view is wrong, be it on a forum or face to face, people are who they are but for the love of god, it's the internet and a user forum where the sole purpose is to discuss. Not "shut up, you're wrong you ****", or similar.
Wtf does that have to do with post counts? Well, they are probably best described as credibility counts and i'm guilty myself of using it to judge a member based on what he/she's put. It might be complete rubbish - but I generally find those with lower counts post either more WUM related material or just complete nonsense. It's very plausible someone with 50 posts just wants to cause trouble, and less plausible that someone that has put the time into racking up 10,000 posts is here purely to piss people off. Though, there are one or two. In that case, rightly or wrongly it's a barometer to make a judgement on the credibility of a post. At the end of the day, if new members were genuine enough to engage in real discussion, their post count would rise and they will be viewed differently. Not saying it's right, but it's generally the case. We all had to go through the "newb" period, so why can't they.
Ric probably didn't set up a forum so that people could 'qualify' to have their views heard, so it's a double edged sword. I can see the logic of removing them as it creates an even ground, but I do see it as potentially causing more thread derailments and arguments, because in the past users may have ignored someone that has posted something dodgy, whereas now they might engage them and it's unlikely to end well.
At the end of the day, the forum has a Poll function and we live in a democracy, let people vote and go with the majority. It's also Ric's forum and if he doesn't want counts, tough shit. If you feel strongly enough that losing the post count is of detriment to your viewing pleasure, join mumsnet.