NCommander is publishing a Meta story today: https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=22/11/20/0342250 It will be published on the front page with all of the restrictions that apply to such stories and discussions.
In it NCommander explains how he sees the future of the site developing with regards to software, hardware and administration. Some of those views are different now from the views that many of us held in 2014. The requirement for some of our servers is no longer justified, and there are better technologies available for achieving what we are trying to do thus also reducing our running costs. The administration of the site is placing an increasing burden on the relatively few administrators that remain in the support team. Society has also changed. Some discussion has been replaced by intimidation and threats. It is much more polarised than it was in 2014. In many ways this is the same as for numerous other web sites. However, the abuse and toxic atmosphere created by a small number of Anonymous Cowards is unacceptable and must be reversed if the site is to survive. The responsibility for some of the problems that we are experiencing, and the resulting actions that we have had to take, is placed entirely at their feet.
A few months ago the majority of the community opted - albeit very reluctantly - to remove AC posts from the front pages of the site. This action has successfully removed the vast majority of the abuse from our discussions. We are seeing a slow increase in the number of comments week-on-week and the signal-to-noise ratio is now much higher. It is only right that we also reconsider the implications of that change.
This journal entry is to enable anyone who wishes to remain anonymous to express their views. I promise that I will read it and will ensure that genuine views are considered when the community decides which path it wishes to follow. I cannot make any assurances that other members of the site's administration will read it - although I expect that at least some will. If you have an account then I strongly encourage you to leave your views under NCommander's Meta story and not here.
I further my promise that I will try to represent your views as honestly and fairly as I can.
If you abuse this journal then you are simply giving more support to the alternative options that might be considered than you are to the status quo. I encourage you to expresses sensible, logical and considered views but should you decide that abuse is what you prefer then this journal entry can simply be removed. You are being given an opportunity - do not throw it away.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 21 2022, @10:20PM
The most amusing part is that the Hasidim often prefer to do religious studies instead of having jobs. In fact, many Hasidim are on public assistance. As a result, Hasidic communities [ojpac.org] tend to have lower incomes (both in the US and in Israel) than other communities.
As such, those folks aren't "running things" other than religious schools and don't have much economic power at all. In fact, the idea that jews are "the people who run things" is a ridiculous trope, especially given the fact that in a world of eight billion people, there are less than 20 million jews (~0.25% of the world population).
But some folks apparently feel the need to blame someone for the bad shit that happens, so why not the jews? They are few and have historically (for more than a millenium) been discriminated against for no real reason other than they're not Christians, and more recently (within the past century) because they're not Islamic.
Since all of these folks are battling each other over who is worshipping the very same imaginary sky daddy in the proper way, it would be laughable if such battles hadn't (and aren't) been so violent and bloody. Instead it's just sad.
Getting away from such false belief systems would make the world a much better place, IMNSHO.