Clicks pay the editor's salary.

It could be useful if HN had a mild site reputation system. Submissions from high quality sites (say ciechanow.ski) would start with a point or two bonus. Submissions from sketchier sites would get a bit of friction - "That site's reputation is not the best. You might want to submit an article on this topic from a better site instead. But if you really want to submit this article, click [Yes, Submit]".

It's a lost cause, people parrot headlines on top of that, so disingenuous :/