The Baptism of Fire
Correct me if I'm wrong, but with the reputation system as it stands, it only takes a down-vote from a user with a reputable account to completely and utterly destroy a newcomer (hide posts from global index).
And while the newcomer can earn his way back to the surface with some extra effort (by curation and commenting) to restore his reputation, this baptism of fire is not exactly a warm welcome to the community.
This is a known issue in the Steemit community. Many users have reported their story where a Steemit whale has exercised his/her right to flag a post.
Some Whales are Abusing their Power with Downvotes
The Elephant in the Room
However, in my (non-reputed) opinion, it does not matter whether the reputed user was right or wrong in his down-voting. The problem is that quite a few users have a disproportionate weight of opinion and this is clearly a form of centralization of power. Do you see the elephant in the room?
A One-Way Street
Steemit in its current state has a pyramidal hierarchy, where influence is almost a one-way street (top to bottom).
As 
Those with weaker reputations are unable to harm the reputation of those with strong reputation.
For real? The purpose of the reputation system is to safeguard the whales power?
So who controls those with strong reputation?...
The Power of Opinion
The Crypto sphere advocates for decentralization and equality. In the Steemit sphere however, it seems that some people are more equal than others. I call it the compartmentalization of opinions.
I get it, the obvious argument is that users that dedicate more time and effort in the community deserve to be well taken care of. After all they have proved their loyalty and contribute to high-quality content on a constant basis. This however should not grant them the right to act as judges in a court.
Reputation is not "everything" and power to the people
Good content is "everything". I don't care about how high your reputation is.
Cut the users some slack and let the newcomers breath. The reputation system is asphyxiating.