Posts about immigrants are getting deleted again

Once again, posts discussing the issue of immigrants are being deleted, even those written with a perfectly reasonable and civil tone.

John Doe reached out to me with a completely legitimate question, phrased quite normally, asking why I hold my theories regarding immigrants given that they have been found carrying sums as high as $20,000. Both his inquiry and my subsequent response were wiped clean from the board.

Yeah, they’re scrubbing unauthorized posts from all the threads, including this one, and there’s actually a method to the madness... You could always check in with the moderators if you're curious, but if we opened a new thread every single time a post got nuked, we wouldn't get anywhere at all.

Since you’ve already brought it up—and I’m not looking to start a whole debate here, just setting the record straight—the entire "discussion" regarding those conspiracy theories was wiped out. Most of it falls under that fringe science category or belongs on some other corner of the internet, certainly not here... We're talking about all that nonsense regarding "white race replacement" and the supposed "dilution of intelligence," complete with links to various racist sites. Your post was caught in that cycle because it included quotes from that specific mess. It wasn't feasible to just pick out the most offensive parts since everyone was quoting each other constantly, and since editing posts isn't allowed, the whole thing had to go.

Oh come on—honestly, those kinds of wild theories are always the most entertaining part of the whole discussion... 😁

I’m staying far away from fringe science—it's a little too intense for me.

It doesn't matter. A forum exists specifically to host a variety of perspectives—that's the whole point. This discussion regarding the influx of immigrants affects all of us, quite significantly... I suppose I don't see much sense in prohibiting people from expressing their views on why these things are happening. If we did that, it might be better to just shut down the entire thread and suggest everyone just get their information from NBC or The New York Times instead.

Paul Kern12 said:That’s nonsense. A forum exists specifically so people can air different opinions. This whole thing about the immigrant surge affects every single one of us... I don't see the point in banning anyone from discussing the reasons behind what's happening. If we did that, we might as well just shut down the entire thread and tell everyone to go watch NBC or read The New York Times instead.

Look, this is a heavyweight topic—it demands serious posts that stick to a predefined line.
Sure, that logic doesn't apply to some of the lighter stuff, like debating the President of the United States or whatever, but those are the rules we've got, and that's that.

Who knows? Maybe if we all get overly serious enough, we'll actually stumble upon a solution to this refugee crisis. 😍

Paul Kern12 said:That’s nonsense. A forum exists specifically so people can share different perspectives. This whole discussion about the immigrant surge affects all of us, so... I don't see any point in banning people from discussing the reasons behind what's happening. Otherwise, we might as well just close the thread entirely and tell everyone to go get their news from NBC or The New York Times.

People are expressing different views, sure, but that doesn't mean everything goes... some things aren't legal, some things break the forum rules, and some things are just plain stupid.

Talking about racial supremacy or fighting against a specific race because they're supposedly "superior"—we aren't going to allow that.

It's like how we won't let someone spin a theory and hijack a thread by claiming aliens from some planet are behind everything... I'm just using that as an example to show that not everything is up for grabs. Someone could claim that's just their "opinion," too. But we have a subforum for that. Just like in the Health section, you can't just post that colloidal silver or sunbathing cures cancer.

We are on the fourth part of this thread, page 345, which means we've hit nearly 37,000 posts. Of those, especially lately, maybe 80% are anti-immigrant, and 99% are either that or extremely worried about the current situation.

So, saying it's forbidden to be "against" something is absolutely ridiculous...

Now, if certain people can't express being "against" something without resorting to racism, hate speech, or whatever else... or if that's their primary motivation, or if they just wander too far into fringe science conspiracy theories... well, that's a completely different issue altogether.

Alright, lonebadger6, I know I’m basically digging my own grave here—but I didn't get flagged before for claiming "this whole thing has been rigged for decades" and saying—and I actually wrote this a few days back—that the whole goal behind letting immigrants in is to "weaken Christianity."

I'm honestly risking a ban just for calling out the mods, but looking at your last post, I think I earned a strike too.

You aren't going to get a strike here just for commenting on the moderation team 😁 Though since we've all drifted off-topic anyway, I don't really have much desire to keep debating this, especially since everything is pretty much laid out already... but I'll answer your question.

First off, moderating is volunteer work, and we don't actually live on this forum. On the Politics board specifically, it’s impossible to catch every single post, so we split up topics among ourselves—it's not a hard rule and we all try to cover everything, but obviously, nobody can read every single thing at once... so if me or any of my colleagues who hang out in this thread miss something over on the Immigrants board, it happens, just like how I have no clue who's drinking what or who's paying for it over in Russia. If reports come in, I usually just let my more active colleagues handle them unless it's something blatantly obvious, like someone explicitly insulting users or attacking the mods... then I might step in.

As for you, if you're asking, quite a few of your posts in this thread have been pushing the limit. It’s allowed, though... but if you pushed it just a little further, you'd be right on the edge where things get deleted, yet still not enough for a formal strike. You know, it's all about finding that balance... or just getting lucky 😉 The user who kicked off today's whole "chaos story" over on the Immigrants board usually knows that. But today he went a bit too far and, worst of all, steered the conversation in the wrong direction right from the start with a few claims... which ended up inviting some others in to spout openly racist garbage. Honestly, I don't think he's a malicious person, but he definitely overstepped this time.

And regarding your Complaint—no, you didn't earn a strike for trolling. You asked a legitimate question, and if he got carried away this time, that's hardly your fault.

Alright, thanks. I still honestly feel like I deserved the penalty.😁

lonebadger6 said:The thread is currently on its fourth part, specifically on page 345—which means we are nearing 37,000 posts. It seems to me that, especially lately, perhaps 80% of them are anti-immigrant in tone, and maybe 99% are either that or just deeply unsettled by everything unfolding.

It stands to reason that 99% of the sentiment would be anti-immigrant or anxious when people observe something being cooked up behind closed doors without any serious effort being made to stop it.
In fact, I get the impression that—perhaps due to negligence—politicians are actually making things worse by entertaining scenarios that only serve to add fuel to the fire (for instance, the suggestion regarding easing or removing visa requirements for Turkey).

lonebadger6 said:So, saying it isn't actually prohibited to speak "against" something—that's almost laughable, really.

I wasn't claiming that one isn't allowed to express an opposing view (even if, about six months ago, such things were sanctioned); rather, my point was that it is perfectly natural for people to try and decipher the motives of those who permit all this, or at least contribute to it through inaction. This includes understanding the motives and identities of those who set these events in motion.

lonebadger6 said:Now, the fact that some people don't know how to voice their opposition without resorting to racism, hate speech, or similar—or that such bias is their primary motivation... or that some drift too far into fringe science conspiracy theories... well, that is quite a separate issue entirely.

When absurd situations occur, absurd questions and theories naturally follow; I wouldn't want to suppress that attempt to solve the puzzle.
And of course, racism and hate speech should be avoided—on that, I am in total agreement.
Just as all of this seems irrational to us, it also seems irrational to an immigrant who sees one group calling for them and another group barring them.
That is why we find ourselves wondering what exactly is being cooked up, who the chefs are, who is supplying the ingredients, and ultimately, who is forcing all of us (both here in America and those arriving) to eat a meal we neither like nor desire—all while fearing that the dish might be poisonous, and perhaps very, very poisonous indeed.

It would be fairer to just lock this thread instead of butchering the conversation and pretending there’s actually an ongoing discussion here. There really isn't...

I’m going to go ahead and close this thread once and for all, quite simply, because we have already circled this drain dozens of times: deleting posts is a standard tool in any moderator's kit. Posts are removed when they are off-topic, when they serve as troll bait, or, as we see here, when they descend into pure conspiracy theories. Anyone is welcome to participate in these discussions, but one must maintain a level of decorum and basic civility. That is really all there is to it.