Either way moderation is voluntary work.
We don't get paid for it at all (Besides when @Maldesto rewards people OUT OF HIS OWN POCKET when he doesn't have to, take into account that he has a family of his own to provide for).
We do have powers but like people have reiterated already. Ranks are not needed to help others.
The only difference is we have the ability to lock/hide/move/edit topics and can ban members; access to Mod/AdminCP as-well.
Helping people on the forums is also 'voluntary work' just without the formal perks.
If a member stumbles across a problem they themselves cannot help with due to the fact they don't possess moderator permissions.
They can simply 'report' the post if its on a thread and it appears in our report center, or private message a staff member.
Its very rare occurance for NO staff members to be active at any one time, in-fact its unheard of.
And for this reason, I'm not going to say I'm against the idea, but I'm not for it.
Neutral.