Im not against forum squelch, but nobody force you to read his threads and posts, you know?
afaik, even if you put somebody in ignore list you will see his threads with subject (but no message body) and his quoted posts by other members.
Welp, ignore is a feature thats easily implemented. And , from the administrators side being an admin in a number of places, it saves a ton on reported posts, whiny PM's, flamewars ect ect ect . Personally I cannot even see setting up a forum without it. It offers an
option for folks to use to be able to read through thread and not read posts from posters they find repeatedly offensive, baiting, or downright stupid. It makes for a much more enjoyable forum experience. There are those in every forum (this one included) that "ride the edge" of having the admin smack put upon them like its some sort of joke. And they laugh about getting away with it. Usually in that they dont have much to offer to any conversation. Those are the ones that could use to be ignored.
Here again, its not thrust upon anyone. Its up to the user as an option to use it or not. If you don't like it, don't use it.