Motion of No Confidence in the Right Hon. Inks

[Sbane]

Posting an out of context part of a PM is just as bad as posting the entire PM. Indeed it might be better since it provides context. I approve of Inks.

[Keystone Phil]

Nothing I posted was out of context but I guess if Inks says it enough, it becomes the truth.

[© tweed]

If you want to fix things, you don't need to remove a competent moderator- just get rid of this broken system.   

And pray tell how could we do that?  As far as I can tell we have no power to do anything, and in fact even our complaints about it are only tolerated by authority's whim.

more to the point, kicking Inks to the curb would have serious symbolic potency and thus be a stepping stone towards the goal of (replacing) "this broken system"

[AndrewTX]

I find it really amusing how you keep crying over this. It's a forum. Does it really matter to you this much? Go start a forum of your own.

[© tweed]

I find it really amusing how you keep crying over this. It's a forum. Does it really matter to you this much? Go start a forum of your own.

I'm an Atlasian Exceptionalist.  I believe that this is more than a forum, it's The Forum. greater than the sum of its parts.

[opebo]

And pray tell how could we do that?  As far as I can tell we have no power to do anything, and in fact even our complaints about it are only tolerated by authority's whim.

more to the point, kicking Inks to the curb would have serious symbolic potency and thus be a stepping stone towards the goal of (replacing) "this broken system"

Yes, I'm all for it, though I certainly - due to the opacity of the system - have no idea whether he is 'particularly bad'.

[© tweed]

And pray tell how could we do that?  As far as I can tell we have no power to do anything, and in fact even our complaints about it are only tolerated by authority's whim.

more to the point, kicking Inks to the curb would have serious symbolic potency and thus be a stepping stone towards the goal of (replacing) "this broken system"

Yes, I'm all for it, though I certainly - due to the opacity of the system - have no idea whether he is 'particularly bad'.

he's bad at being bad.

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

Nothing I posted was out of context but I guess if Inks says it enough, it becomes the truth.

I think we've all compared the Forum to a dictatorship before. Let's expand that analogy a bit...

The Atlas Forum is a benevolent dictatorship, ultimately ruled over by a benevolent dictator (Dave Leip) who is hands-off to the point that even his direct subordinates don't easily have access to him.
The government officials in this dictatorship (i.e. the moderators) fall into four categories -- Some (Tender, Ernest) are pure technocrats; some (Joe Republic, Al) use their power merely as a licence to wreak havoc without fear of retribution; some (Emsworth is the poster child for this category) have entirely departed the country; and some (mostly Inks) are tyrants of the worst sort.

Freedom of speech does not exist -- not because of the dictator himself, but because of his subordinate tyrants. Citizens who aggravate the moderators too much (jmfcst, Teddy) are simply banished. And as Phil astutely remarked, the moderators' words are taken as gospel by an ignorant, apathetic populace.

[AndrewTX]

What am I? I'm like the forgotten mod

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

What am I? I'm like the forgotten mod

I don't think lovable huggable teddy bear is a category

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

What am I? I'm like the forgotten mod

I didn't mention Bacon King either, among others -- the point was to provide a few examples, not to exhaustively categorise every moderator.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

What's with all the C-RI avatars?

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

What's with all the C-RI avatars?

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

What's with all the C-RI avatars?

Wow... I am flattered that I have garnered my own movement.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

What's with all the C-RI avatars?

Did you send out a PM urging people to get those avatars?  Or did I miss the thread where this started?

[© tweed]

purely spontaneous.

[angus]

Wow... I am flattered that I have garnered my own movement.

Dude, you even have your own verb, noun, and interjection.  I got Inked.  Ink that.  What the F[inks] are you doing?

FWIW, I have confidence in you, hoss.  Hang in there.  You might at least admit that Phil won a victory, though.  He really did.  Be honest about it.

[Simfan34]

Internet fora are not democracies, although we need more Bacon King style moderation.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

What's with all the C-RI avatars?

That's a relief; I was afraid something happened to Mint.

[dead0man]

Internet fora are not democracies, although we need more Bacon King style moderation.

They don't care, they are too busy playing the victim in the only way they can.  We should just let them impotently bitch here, it's probably better for society at large.

[Torie]

My little no doubt unpopular opinion is that some posters need to get another hobby other than mod obsession. Sure, Inks makes some decisions that many will disagree with, or would not do if they were a mod, even if what Inks does is well within his discretion (probably a wider category of decisions), and he is probably more active and "nitpicky" perhaps than most mods (including most likely moi if I were a mod), but I think he acts in good faith, and the consequences of his actions are less important than a fart in a windstorm really. Plus he takes a lot of undeserved abuse, in part due perhaps to his still learning the requisite diplomatic skills in trying to keep a bunch of the equivalent of rather feral cats on this matter in some kind of order. Heck it took decades to hone mine. So the cats claw him. Give the guy some slack.

I have this fantasy of some of his major detractors becoming mods for a period of time. I suspect some would become quite unpopular as they allow chaos to ensue per a laissez faire approach, or fall into other sand traps. Anyway, it's tough keeping a bunch of smart willful young folks happy, while hewing to the not entirely in focus vision of our AWOL leader.  Now you know how tough it can be to be a teacher.

So I am opposed to the motion.

PS:  I would also note that Inks got little Kudos for being proactive in nixing NYJew, which seemed to be popular. Absent him, my impression is that NYJew would still be with us. Think about that one for a bit too. Thanks.

PPS: Inks did make a mistake of responding to Phil's mistake on that PM disclosure thing. Two wrong do not make a right. But I think he realizes that, and Inks was provoked. I would just have deleted Phil's post (or induced Nym to do it), and privately spanked him for a partial quote of a PM. I suspect many of Inks' detractors however would have done exactly what Inks did however.  Tit for tat is quite popular around here - even when inappropriate.

[Negusa Nagast 🚀]

I would copy/paste Torie but that would be too easy.

If people are going to complain when he closes down a little thread (but don't laud him when he does his actual job to keep the forum full of contributing members), I would suggest that those people examine their own lives; they might be spending a little too much time on the Internet.

Follow the Professor's advice, and go get some girls (or guys, if that's your thing).

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I fully support Inks

[Хahar 🤔]

I believe that Phil should be able to make personal attacks with impunity. If that means that Inks must be removed, then so be it.

[The Mikado]

The fault, dear Phil, is not in the Inks but in yourselves.