Forum Post: Let's Pay For Good Moderation With Site Donations
Posted 9 years ago on Aug. 7, 2014, 11:32 a.m. EST by shortNbaldNfatBUTSexy
(-79)
from New York, NY
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
This site accepts donations. It has received more than $50,000 so far. And continues to receive money. Why not use that money to pay for proper moderators? I don't think jart has much time to spend here since she is busy at her new job. Maybe someone else can make use of that donation money? What about Odin, Renney, gnomunny, or shadz66? I think these people are all retired and have a lot of time on their hands. Anyone of them would make a great moderator.
The new funding campaign. http://www.gofundme.com/8dpiyc is having a hard time because of that I think. People don't want to donate if they don't get something back. If we can promise a properly moderate site for OWS discussion, I have a feeling people would be more inclined to donate. We need a really strong and clear initiative if we want to get donations.
So, first we propose a new clear plan for moderation, with clear moderation goals, then we start an active campaign to receive donations for it.
"There could be other ways for OWS/forum to generate income for expenses [ edit: like moderation ], as well.
Perhaps advertising income could be generated from these same carefully chosen co-ops/businesses/organizations/groups, whose principles align or overlap with those of OWS.
Like Mondragon, Demoex, etc.
Small ads on the front page of the forum so users can follow the direction OWS is headed and get involved with groups they may not otherwise be exposed to. OWS and these groups may over time, merge and multiply in numbers far faster than any one of them/us could on our own. Not to mention, good for forum morale.
Its a real win/win."
From: https://occupywallst.org/forum/debunking-911-myths/#comment-1042519
Ren - see the bottom of this attached comment. It could dovetail right into what you are looking to accomplish in networking " for the People " businesses and groups onto this site and supporting each other as well.
https://occupywallst.org/forum/lets-pay-for-good-moderation-with-site-donations/#comment-1042685
Thanks, DKA...I love it!
I love this kind of creative and positive thinking!
OWS could become the world's 'hub' of integrity based products/businesses.
We'd need lots of researchers for the vetting process. See that?! You and 1776 just created a whole bunch of new OWS jobs for the potential cooperative! Lolol!
Yes. Perhaps jart, thrasy or another computer gifted person could create a smartphone app. This app would read the upc code on products and let the buyer know the details of who is selling it. Occupy minded consumers could buy this app and use it to make smarter purchases. Buying products from companies that better benefit their society.
For instance when buying paper towels, this app would let you know NOT to buy "brawny" towels, (manufactured by a koch brother enterprise).
This smart app would tell people details about the seller:
Is this corporation know to excessively harm the environment.
What political donations and lobbying has this corp done.
Has this corp decreased employee numbers and wages over the years.
How much has this corp outsourced lately. Call centers in India,etc.
How much does this corp pay their board members.
Does this corp offer profit sharing to their employees
etc, etc
One place this app could be sold could be on this website. A percentage of the proceeds could be donated to support Occupy causes.
[ edit ] thrashingmasks - it is always funny to see you talking about yourself in the 2nd or third mask.
" Yes. Perhaps jart, thrasy or another computer gifted person could create a smartphone app. "
edit -> You always seem so determined to out yourself with your own comment agenda:
[-] 1 points by 1776 (31) from Glen Head, NY 1 hour ago
Paying for moderators is a capitalistic solution. Try to think of an Occupy solution.
For instance: - the "Forum community" could be given moderating privledges.
Members with more than 500 (dare I say) "Twinkle points" would have the authority to delete comments.
Censorship would be discouraged. Only blatant violations could be censored.
Anything censored would be visible to other forum users having moderating privledges. If the censorship was thought by a peer moderator to be unjust or excessive, they could send it to a panel for review and future reinstatement.
Any community forum moderator that is found by their peers to be abusive and excessive, would have moderating privledges revoked after multiple offenses.
Any forum moderators supporting an establishment political party or shill agenda, i.e.: shooz, DKA, wsmith, factsrfun, bensdad, vqkaq, etc. Would NOT be allowed moderation privledges.
Any action would have to first match a short list of forum violations. Excessive profanity(zendog, GF - BANNED). Threats(zendog- BANNED). Political party shills(wsmith, factrfun, bensdad, vq, etc-banned). Advertisements- banned, Users that excessively misdirect posts, excessively squabble, bait, attack and troll other users- could be either banned or have "troll" added to their moniker. Of course this would only be for Excessive conduct. We do NOT want to return to the extreme unjust censorship of DKA and shooz.
↥twinkle ↧stinkle reply permalink
But I gotta admit - you actually forwarded a good idea ( for once ) =
" create a smartphone app. This app would read the upc code on products and let the buyer know the details of who is selling it. Occupy minded consumers could buy this app and use it to make smarter purchases. Buying products from companies that better benefit their society. "
Addition to the app = the app could recommend alternatives to the scanned item to point out any other responsible manufacturer choices and further - where those alternatives are available.
I agree. Your addition to the app is an excellent one.
It was only a rough outline of the idea. Your addition and other thoughtful additions would greatly enhance it.
Another possible addition could be local knowledge. People could put local, non-corporate suggestions for their community. For instance, tips on farmers markets, community gardens, resource sharing, small business choices for products in that area. List of locations, times, prices, contacts, other recommendations, etc.
I like this idea very much! Though, I'll have to admit I don't understand how it works. I'm low tech and low key! Lol!
I just posted regarding this forum/OWS becoming a true and proper co-operative.
You mentioned in an earlier post that getting money involved in taking care of this site would be a capitalist solution and against OWS principles. But, I don't agree.
Money is not bad in and of itself. Money can be used for wonderful things.
We are very far from humanity living a completely money free way of life. Humans will undoubtedly evolve to that point, but we can't expect that any time soon, and to ask anyone at this early stage of 'changing the human condition', to try to grow OWS' principles around the world without a means to take care of their families in the world we live in right now, is unrealistic.
People can keep their jobs and volunteer a couple of hours a week into OWS and humanitarian endeavors, or course...but that will take eons. Many people do that now and our movement is moving at a snail's pace.
Or, we can become a proper cooperative and take care of each other and reach out to humanity so they can come on board and benefit, too. Dignity for everyone!
Use money for the good that it can be used for. I think, that if this forum/OWS became a true functioning cooperative, it would be seen in the light of OWS principles and not as a capitalist endeavor at all.
This is a great idea. Very good a idea. Occupy approved merchandise. Yes, I love it.
I like your ideas girl!!!! Seriously, good stuff.
What I'd really like to see is this forum/OWS become a true and proper cooperative.
Employment for members who wanted responsibilities with procedures, advertising & marketing in reaching out to like-minded and pro-humanity groups/co-ops/establishments/etc.
The kinds of jobs available to forum/OWS members will only grow as we extend our reach and branch out globally. The possibilities are virtually endless.
Becoming a cooperative would give us credibility when we invite other (well vetted!) cooperatives/business/groups to advertise and/or join us in ranks. We/they would be able to increase the number of people and businesses that have OWS principles at their core, far bigger and much faster than we/they ever could on our own.
We could end up being the worlds biggest co-op!
Do you sometimes think of starting your own forum, or a community forum owned by all of us?
I love this forum, but it will most likely be hard to do the things you want when it is controlled by one person, jart, and even harder since she is always absent.
I feel we are limited if always held back in that way?
What do you think about that?
I know ti's a touchy subject, but I think it's an important one to discuss.
Jart, if you're out there, what do you think?
I kick things around in my mind all day long. Of course it's crossed my mind.
But, I too, love this forum..and I think it (and OWS) is still the best vehicle to use in getting information to the populace.
I have the same concerns in this regard, and creating something on our own could be necessary, but only as a very last resort.
I feel that we would have a much better chance with jart if we (the regulars on the forum) could reach an agreement on this one main thing, and go to her as a group, rather than just one or two people.
Our one main idea going forward, imo, should be to collect revenue by reaching out to carefully vetted like-minded, humanity-centered businesses with the goal of using that revenue to make the forum/OWS into an honest to goodness cooperative.
If we can agree to that, then we are on our way to all other branches of saving humanity. We have good people here. It can be done. It doesn't even matter if the regulars don't agree on issues. I think just about everyone here will agree on that one main issue...all other issues can be voted upon individually and democratically through the cooperative's method.
Yes, I do wish this can be done with THIS forum and with Jart.
The best would be to keep the OWS name and this forum, but for jart to give control to the community.
It's not in the spirit of OWS for this site to be dominated and controlled by one person. And, to top it off she is never here, never participates, and even said she might want to shut it down.
She is a founder. So what. What she founded was supposed to be about community, so, in that sense, she didn't found anything if she doesn't want to let control go to the community.
Your ideas are great, but unless jart gives up control of this place, I fear it will be impossible to change things around here.
OK, that's great. But, how are you going to use this site to collect revenue if jart won't give us control to modify it?
To collect revenue you have to register a non-profit organization. Can you use the OWS name? or Occupy? Didn't jart trademark those?
Won't it be confusing with the donation button currently on this site?
Jart doesn't need to give up 'full' control of the forum, trademarks or anything else. How could that work if we want her to work with us? If we're going to build a massive cooperative wanting to use the 'Occupy' brand name, we have to work with jart....and if we're going to work with jart, then we have to work with the reality of what we've got, yes?
You say, "It's not in the spirit of OWS for this site to be dominated and controlled by one person.". So what. It doesn't matter what is in the spirit of OWS. She's got control. That's the reality. That's what we'll have to work with. Agreements (eventually legal) will have to be made...and certainly anything we do can't be perceived as mutiny. She will want safeguards in place, I'm sure.
Yes, cooperatives are owned and run by the community. But it doesn't have to be a purist approach in the beginning, or, even long term, for that matter. Think of it like a hybrid of sorts. Like the hybrid car industry. Making vehicles that can use electricity while still using the existing infrastructure, laws, etc., while building up the healthier aspects of the vehicles themselves and growing the infrastructure necessary to use these vehicles on a larger scale in the physical world.
Using Demoex again as an example...here was a few people of strong inclination with a socially inclusive ideology, that got started by creating a democratic political platform using the existing system to 'get in', and their numbers have grown from there. A hybrid. It can work. It's not perfect, but you see how, we too, could grow a massive cooperative using existing systems, laws, business practices, etc. We just have to keep it socially responsible.
The potential for humanity here is enormous...and it's not out of the realm of possibility. Just treat the cooperative and jart like any other 'ethical' business deal or partner.
We know what we want. Basically, an ethical business/organization that helps humanity live a life with happiness, fulfillment, fairness, etc...dignity for ALL. So the question then becomes, 'what does jart want?' I believe, that she essentially wants the same as we do...to help humanity. But, she has the unfortunate burden of not knowing who to trust in going forward. She's probably suffered lots of business betrayal. She is in massive protection mode. If, indeed, her intentions are good...then in her mind, one wrong move in her decision making about the path of OWS could mean potential doom for humanity. She may even prefer to see OWS die, rather than have it end up in the wrong hands. She's biding her time, in my view.
So, how do we move forward and propose a working relationship with jart, in such a way that it's mutually beneficial with enough control of the cooperative for both jart and us, so that neither could shut the other down? Hmmm, I don't know. Incentives?
Let's say that as a part of the expanding branches of OWS we have 'ethical OWS branded products'. It could be anything from socks to solar panels. We could have branches with factories making hundreds of different products. What if, in exchange for using the OWS brand name and getting enough control to freely run the cooperative to produce these items, we traded monetarily with jart...something like royalties for each item sold. Everybody wins.
Or, if other (carefully vetted) businesses/organizations/groups came on board with OWS and wanted the OWS 'ethical' seal of approval, thereby gaining credibility and expanding their customer base...perhaps OWS could charge a membership fee for that, which jart gets a percentage of.
In our favour, we have the fact that a properly run cooperative is anarchy at it's best. Anarchy being something jart feels very passionate about.
The benefit to jart is that she doesn't have to lift a finger in the global expansion of the various branches of the OWS brand, unless she wants to be a part of it, of course. 'We', the cooperative, would do all the work. Other than watching over her legalities, she just gets to collect royalties. She'll be a very wealthy woman. She'll have the freedom to help humanity with those funds in whatever way she sees fit. I'm sure she has a vision. She will make oodles more money with us as a cooperative with the ethically synonymous 'OWS' brand name, than she could ever achieve on her own. She could even quit her job at Google. ;-)
The powers that be, will have no choice but to take us seriously. As the OWS cooperative grows exponentially and becomes a household name known for it's love and dignity of humanity...who, in their right mind would purchase from corporations bent on slavery, when those corporations sink into the status of social pariahs and diminish quickly in numbers.
Humanity's collective consciousness is heartbroken. It's a pivotal time. People are so ready for change...and OWS should be a giant...leading the way forward by example. The best and most ethical cooperative on the planet....bringing on more and more people, providing healthy and fair livelihoods for more and more people as we go along...like a snowball rolling down a mountain, gaining speed, momentum and size, till we are a global force that cannot be ignored.
But please, Renneye, do not let my criticism stop you.
I'm just giving my opinion. I could be wrong.
What you should do is write a post about this for everyone to see and write a letter to jart and ask her to comment on it and tell you what she is ready to do for the community.
Perhaps I am wrong and jart is a fantastic team player.
I guess I just don't agree that retaining the OWS name is that important, especially if it means being slaves to jart.
I'd much rather organize an OWS offshoot, have a new name, new forum, etc... and make sure everyone in the community has control. A forum where new users came come, etc... Here no one can even sign up.
Also, this forum has a bad reputation.
Starting something from scratch is good, also it leaves this forum to continue what it's doing for those who like that.
Yes, we need to lead by example, that's why we can't have a jartocracy.
What is crucial is leading by example, what's not crucial is that OWS is doing that. We can do it under another name.
So leave and start your own site.
I'm starting a site on sweaty fat naked internet stalkers who stalk others from their therapeutic beds.
No, I don't want to wiggle your nipple or dabble with your paddle.
I'm not interested in your old pig like sweaty therapeutic bed loving fat hairy body. I'm even less interested in your feeble dork troll mind.
So please, stop stalking me Obama lover!
U R A vile sick twisted pig thrashingmasks.
You fibromialgic pig. Get out of that therapeutic bed and exercice a bit. Stop stalking me you vile atrocious naked pig like slimy creature.
Poser
You should invite jart to discuss Renneye's idea. I think it's good no?
Do some real work for once ya poser - You - go and invite your "friend" ( yah - right - friend - again - only in your twisted "little" imagination ).
I guess I just don't agree that retaining the OWS name is that important, especially if it means being slaves to jart.
I'd much rather organize an OWS offshoot, have a new name, new forum, etc... and make sure everyone in the community has control. A forum where new users came come, etc... Here no one can even sign up.
Also, this forum has a bad reputation.
Starting something from scratch is good, also it leaves this forum to continue what it's doing for those who like that.
So leave and start your own site.
We are still discussing raw ideas. If jart wants to be a team player and make Renneye's vision a reality, that would be the best road as we could simply use this site. We'll see.
Then don't you think that you should discuss with jart? You will get nowhere ( here ) by excluding her. So since you are her good friend and all - don't you think that you should talk to her directly?
OR
Leave and start your own site.
It would be great if she came to discuss this idea.
In no way do I exclude her. I welcome her to use her site to express her ideas.
Please jart, come and participate in discussions with Renneye, myself, and the others.
Be amongst us jart, part of the community.
The reality is that jart is not around. She hasn't really been involved with this site nor OWS since she got a 6 figure income at Google.
So, we have to work with jart? Why? I think that makes no sense at all. Jart doesn't work with other people. She makes decisions for others. That's why almost all occupiers got angry at her. She took over this site (which is why the NYCGA never recognized it as official), she took over the Twitter account, etc...
I think the only way to work with others, in a community way, is to make sure the tools are run by the community.
You can't even signup new users here. And, you can't change the donation buttons.
Jart barely ever answers emails that people here write to her.
You can't know what jart will or will not do, if approached with such a monumental, humanity prospering project.
When was the last time you spoke in person, with jart?
'Occupy Wall Street' is known all over the world. The head start by using that as a brand name synonymous with ethical practices, should not be overlooked. We/humanity would be so much further ahead with business relations and products, by moving forward with jart and try and make a partnership agreement.
The sign-up page closing was probably a temporary solution to a temporary problem. Yes jart should definitely lift that. I had wanted to email her earlier.
~~~~ Jart, Is The Sign-up Page Permanently Closed?
I've been speaking about the forum on Livestream with a direct link. But, if people visit the forum and want to join the discussion, they can't sign-up.
Was the 404 on the sign-up page a temporary solution for a temporary problem?
Would you consider letting the public be able to sign-up and take part in the discussion, again?
If it gets out of hand again, you still have the option of re-closing it.
Another thing, I think we have to remain practical and look at what we have in front of our eyes. Since the beginning, this has been a jartocracy. To the point where the NYCGA publicly stated this was no longer regarded as an official site. There was also the Twitter scandal where jart showed clear autocratic tendencies.
So, jart might change, but I think we should remain cautious and realistic Most likely she will never let go of her control.
Why think someone will change when there is no indication that they will.
Three years into a highly fluid people's movement that has never proportionately happened before, given the social media available for the first time in history, is too soon to judge that she will remain the same.
Jart is far more business oriented than we see here, if her actions of getting names and terms trademarked is anything to go by. She's thinking ahead.
Also, if one looks through the information in the tabs at the top of this page, one can see all the business associations she must be connected to, to have the reach that she already has. This is behind the scenes stuff she must be working on quite a bit, in order to keep up. She is far busier than we see.
Cautious? Sure...always.
I'm really not going to believe the personal opinion of internet article writers whose agendas and payments we know nothing about. It is easy to make someone look bad on the internet, and occupy would scare so many corporate interests, that it's obvious that she would be vilified and made to look nuts from every angle.
I hear people use the term Occupy and OWS all the time. It's not dead...it's in people's psyches.
She doesn't work on OWS anymore.
Anyways, let's hope your idea can change her, but my suggestion would be to move on your own. If you love your ideas you wouldn't tie them up under jartocracy.
Please make your post so everyone can find it.
I just PMed jart with a couple of permalinked comments from this thread.
We'll see if she says anything.
It's a start.
I got my fingers and toes crossed. Good job.
True that.
More than a year ago. She basically gave up OWS after getting her 6 figure salary at Google. I very seldom heard from her since.
This is true. It provides advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is people would generally have an idea what we are about, the disadvantage is that OWS is considered to have failed and considered dead by most people, including the very founders like Micah White.
I hope you are correct.
So leave and start your own site.
That is a possibility. We'll have to see. Perhaps jart will find Renneye's idea excellent and decide to become a team player.
Leaving and starting your own site = It is something that "YOU" will never do - as - you can't do the work. You have been threatening to leave for almost three years now. And everyone is happy at the thought of your leaving - But - you never will.
bugs in amber
it's appreciated but who knows if how long this site will last
ever notice how my twitter account has so few followers ?
Perhaps you are correct. My hope is this site can become an example of a true community for the 99%.
Poser
I ain't no Twinkle Team pro democrat dork troll who fails to understand the most basic occupy ideologies.
Poser
That's just it...it doesn't have to be a jartocracy. We can work together. Post coming in a few minutes.
[Removed]
[Removed]
a free open source server package so people can have an address
simple to use like facebook but locally controlled
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO - an addition to your excellent idea. How about including a list of businesses and celebrities and politicians and such to boycott?
Why celebrities one might ask?
Take for example -
Samuel L Jackson shilling for " whats in your wallet " credit cards.
OR
Ted Nugent = racist/hater.
Put up a list and boycott movies and concerts and sports events and and and. Always with the reason why the boycott is being called for.
One certainly would like to point out people and businesses that peddle products and beliefs that keep humanity enslaved.
There could be a portion of the site/cooperative for this...but, in the case of individuals, I think it would need to be done in the way of 'opinion'. I personally would be inclined to look at businesses as opposed to individuals.
It might be better to focus on the positive, though. Having this forum/OWS as a main 'hub' with a long and ever-growing list of the world's humanity-loving groups/co-ops/establishments would be incentive for the destructive companies out there to change their ways, knowing that the world is watching and they don't have the OWS seal of approval
I wonder if we could work in incentives for companies/groups to come on board? Hmmmm....
Gluten free - GMO free ( as in no gluten or gmo - just a couple of quick examples ) - there is a market for such - a growing market - OWS represents people who are concerned about such things = the growing market = incentive for business to get on board.
GMOs are the future. Why would you want GMO free?
No! OWS does not support anti-GMO conspiracy theories.
OWS is about capitalism first and foremost. About replacing capitalism with anarcho-communism.
So it is Said - So it is Written - If only in the thrashingmasks mind.
You should read more:
http://www.vegangmo.com/?page_id=655
You think I'm the only one in OWS that supports GMO and new technologies?
Sorry, there are many. Conspiracy theories don't help anyone. Anti-GMO, anti-vaxxers, Global Warming Denialists, etc... these types of disinformation don't help anybody. They harm.
Don't be a technophobe. Get with the times.
OH go eat a bushel of round-up ready corn why don't cha?
You really can't stop squabbling can you.
Look in the mirror as you type comments like that - You are the one who got all exclusion-ist as well as all conspiracy theory nutsy.
Fighting against conspiracy theories is not nuts, squabbling, etc...
It's super important! We need to learn rational evidenced-based scientific thinking if we wish to create a better world. These conspiracy theorists are holding us back. They are one of the biggest dangers of moderns times.
Only your conspiracies count - hey? And You are the judge of all things that count - Hey? Narcissist much?
we are each at the center of the universe
Each individual - is - an individual reality = Billions of realities.
No at all.
If you have other conspiracy theories you are worried about let's talk about them. Simply present them.
I'm worried about 9/11, anti-GMO, Global Warming Denialists, anti-vaxxers mostly. I talk about those things because I think they are extremely dangerous and problematic. That's my opinion so I talk about them.
What are the conspiracy theories that bother you? I can't guess those. Please bring them up if you wish to talk about them.
thrashing thrashing thrashingmasks - here ya go - AGAIN - trying to extend a non-conversation - AGAIN - a squabble that you picked - oh how typically hypocritical of you - AGAIN - and - ALWAYS.
I come to express my opinions, so I do.
I'm not sure why you don't do the same instead of always trying to pick fights.
You complained that only my conspiracies counted, so I asked about the ones that bothered you. Then you get angry and squabbly?
Perks make a crowd funding site a lot more fun and help it go viral.
Things that can be mailed easily, or downloaded, make the process a lot easier.
Good points! What kind of perks do you imagine?
Patches are always nice. There are probably a shit ton of those posters sitting around somewhere. Myself, as someone that likes newspapers and loves the literature that came about from OWS, I would personally love to get an original copy of the Occupied Wall St Journal. Doesnt even have to be real, but a copies are something that people would love.
So interesting. One of my ideas from really long ago was for Occupy to kill two birds with one stone by starting a small Occupy newspaper based on the anarcho syndicalist model. So, they make this type of anarcho-syndicalist run business where everyone is equal and everyone owns the means of production (Everyone taking part), and then they also create this Occupy newspaper to spread the gospel sort of speak. I think showing by example is the best way.
Paying for moderators is a capitalistic solution. Try to think of an Occupy solution.
For instance:
the "Forum community" could be given moderating privledges.
Members with more than 500 (dare I say) "Twinkle points" would have the authority to delete comments.
Censorship would be discouraged. Only blatant violations could be censored.
Anything censored would be visible to other forum users having moderating privledges. If the censorship was thought by a peer moderator to be unjust or excessive, they could send it to a panel for review and future reinstatement.
Any community forum moderator that is found by their peers to be abusive and excessive, would have moderating privledges revoked after multiple offenses.
Any forum moderators supporting an establishment political party or shill agenda, i.e.: shooz, DKA, wsmith, factsrfun, bensdad, vqkaq, etc. Would NOT be allowed moderation privledges.
Any action would have to first match a short list of forum violations. Excessive profanity(zendog, GF - BANNED). Threats(zendog- BANNED). Political party shills(wsmith, factrfun, bensdad, vq, etc-banned). Advertisements- banned, Users that excessively misdirect posts, excessively squabble, bait, attack and troll other users- could be either banned or have "troll" added to their moniker. Of course this would only be for Excessive conduct. We do NOT want to return to the extreme unjust censorship of DKA and shooz.
Not returning to the extreme and unjust censorship of DKA and shooz is a given. No censorship is better than having those anti-Occupy infiltrators at the helm.
We live in a capitalist world right now where people need money to live.
If you can't pay people, they won't be able to live and will simply get a job and will no longer have time for Occupy.
Think jart.
As for your moderation ideas, I disagree.
I have a better system in mind. One where each user moderators for him or herself. Not for others. Basically, you would have the power to ignore the users you wish to ignore. You could also inherit the settings of others users you trust. So, let's say you and I are friends, you trust me, if I block spam, you would inherit that block if you wanted.
So, there would be no censorship at all.
Everyone would be free to write on the forum, but everyone would also be free to ignore whatever they wanted.
Give me the freedom to write (no censorship), but also give me the freedom to filter what I want to read.
We don't need representatives. Why should a moderator choose for me what I should be able to read. I don't need a moderator to hold my hand. I can choose for myself.
I agree with some of your ideas.
I don't like the cherry picking of only those you want to hear from. This would cultivate cliques and groups who only agree with each other. We already had a version of this with the Twinkle team. All they ever did was high five each other and pat themselves on the back.
This cherry picking idea would kill debate and create compartmentalized, insulated clubs within the forum.
more interested in ideas than debate
That is a good point.
However, we must remember that people of higher intellect enjoy debating ideas and find high fiving a complete was of time.
I think there are no intellectuals here for that very reason. When they try to debate, they are considered shills or trolls for not agreeing.
People of lower intellect cannot stand disagreements because they are not capable of properly defending their ideas.
I think what would end up is the forum would be compartmentalized like you say, but the intellectuals would be separated from the lower intellects and that could be a good thing.
In any case, you could be right. I think the only way to really know would be to try it in practice. Theory has its limits sometimes.
You remind me of Taylor from the Planet of the Apes. You are different than the others here. Smarter than the rest. You seem to understand me. Who are you? Where do you come from?
Yes, your concerns are valid. It would be wise to design a format that discouraged those who misdirect and disrupt productive threads. During the dark ages of this forum, the Twinkle team would aways intrude on a productive thread. It wouldn't take long before they would crash the party, start a mosh pit and turn the thread into the Jerry Springer show.
I offer the following suggestions for your consideration. Maybe subtle divisions within the forum format would work. They would introduce less harsh exclusions.
When a post is created, the OP could assign it a prescribed category. i.e. Progressive, News, Political, Philosophy, History, Educational, Personal, etc.
Perhaps the entire post could be lightly shaded in a specific color for that category. Progressive could be shaded green, News could be shaded blue, etc. This would help threads stay on topic. When people are productively discussing building Co-ops, and someone joins in about voting for Hillary, they could be politely told to join a Political thread.The forum would still look very much like it does today, but with subtle directions.
True that about the Twinkle Team and good suggestions for the thread colors.
Good to see you lobbying against your selves. As the only twinkle/stinkle team to ever invade this site is - Yourselves = thrashingmasks
Currently hanging out as:
1776
shortnfatnnasty
cometotherapy - sorry - cometotheparty
As usual, more false accusations.
1776 is not me. He's a very old user here.
Please stop with your lame assumptions and false accusations.
Everyone here knows the serious damage the Twinkle Team infiltrators caused on this site. That is why jart banned them all on the same day.