Economy subforum is getting trashed

Gerald Chavez7, you have my full support. I guess you're right.

If I posted the rest of the screenshots I’ve collected, I think people would either clutch their heads in disbelief or just start laughing...

I figured public posts might be exempt from the rules, even if the messages themselves were sent privately, especially on a site like Reddit... but honestly, I'm not looking to take any risks here.

Still waiting for the admins to actually show up and give me a real answer.

Rachel Brooks63 said:Hold on—so it's actually banned to call America a "crony state" on an entire subforum? Seriously? 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

First off, it’s just not professional for a moderator to write like this on the FBI forum—and second, you can't just rip things out of context. Someone already explained the context earlier, so I won't repeat myself (just check the post by guud).

Thirdly, a moderator has quite a bit of leeway when it comes to editing a thread. Not too long ago, we agreed to tighten up the moderation (since there are two moderators now, after all). So, I assume this is just a reaction to that.

It should also be noted that the flagged post was from the thread "Salaries—how much do you make in the US?" I can't even begin to describe how "on-topic" and constructive that specific post was. In my opinion, the warning was 100% justified, regardless of whether it came a day before or after a warning—which the OP clearly understands, given they didn't even mention it in their appeal.

Can someone finally tell me if I'm coexistent or not?

Administration, please do something here.🙂

***************************************
Hey Andrew Booth29,

I just got hit with an infraction on Reddit...

Reason: Breaking the subforum rules...
-------

-------

This violation carries a 30-point penalty. Just a heads-up, that might mean your access gets restricted until the timer runs out. And for the heavy-duty stuff? Those infractions stick around forever... they never expire.

Andrew Booth29 said:First off, it’s totally unprofessional for a moderator to be talking like this on the FBI forums... and honestly, taking things out of context isn't exactly helping anyone. Someone already laid out the full story earlier, so I'm not going to waste my breath repeating it (just check what good was saying)...

As a third moderator, I’ve got a decent amount of leeway when it comes to cleaning up threads. A little while back, we all agreed that we needed to tighten things up on the moderation side—especially now that there are two of us running the show. So, I'm pretty sure this is just a reaction to that...

Also, we should probably mention that the thread "Salaries - how much do you make in the US" was officially locked. I honestly can't even begin to describe how incredibly on-topic and constructive that specific discussion was... The ban was 100% justified.If you ask me...Regardless of whether it’s the day before or the day after the warning—which is clearly what the OP is getting at, even if they didn't bother to mention it...

They’re actually going to start cracking down on any acronyms that aren't strictly American... Apparently, this is an American forum, not one based in the UK or somewhere else. According to the site rules, we're sticking to American English here...
If you're looking to chat in English, there's actually a specific sub-forum for that... feels more appropriate over there.

*******************************************

I really appreciate you calling for more brotherhood, unity, and just being decent to one another among the mod team... 👍
Against the crowd... 👍
Even if he messed up, he's one of ours... we've got to have his back.

Come on, just try to be objective for one second... you have to see how this little "sketch" of mine really highlights how absurd this whole situation has become.
What's actually... unsettling (mostly because I feel like I'm walking on eggshells here) is how nobody can just admit they made a simple mistake or even try to argue against a point...

And that’s just one question and one single point... we haven't even gotten into the policing, the flagging people for saying "damn," or all that censorship nonsense yet...
Look, we all know how inconsistent the moderation around here can be. It’s easy for everyone to jump on the bandwagon and start acting all virtuous once the rules get thrown around. So, just tell me now—through the admins or the mods—that the ban was somehow justified because it was "off-topic," and that I actually got lucky since I should've been hit with five more points instead. Then go ahead and lock the thread so I can't even defend myself against the rest of the nonsense that wasn't covered by the ban. Just figured I'd call it out early... you guys know exactly how this goes...

It's a shame, really...

Look, I’m not trying to pick on anyone or be some kind of bully... but it honestly drives me nuts when people put more energy into spinning a lie or digging their heels in just to avoid taking a hit... all while acting like they're smarter than everyone else. It’s exhausting. Because for anyone actually paying attention, it’s pretty obvious what really went down...

We can sit here and debate whether this new moderation style is actually any good or not, but let's be real... that warning you just got is a blatant slap in the face. 👍

I've been hanging around forums for 15 years now—probably clocked in about 20,000 posts in that time—and managed to rack up three warnings, though if I'm being honest, at least one of them was totally undeserved 🙂. If someone decides to slap me with a warning just because of an "IMHO," I wouldn't even bother reacting. I’d just adapt. Every forum has its own set of rules, and as long as they aren't significantly stifling what someone actually wants to say, it doesn't bother me. However, your analogy is flawed (and you wasted quite a bit of vertical screen real estate there, technically speaking) for one simple reason: in your case, we're talking about trolling—using a specific phrase just to trigger an emotional reaction in others.
Also, banning certain terms for those exact reasons isn't exactly unprecedented on this site. On the politics board, for instance, certain terms were banned (specifically pejoratives aimed at public figures). So, the real question is: how difficult would it be for you to simply rephrase what you intended to say without using that particular expression?

Regarding the idea of collegiality, that's a universal moral principle that applies far beyond the digital space—it's always better to try resolving conflicts within the community first. And frankly, I don't quite grasp why you view the users and the moderators as opposing factions? There are forums out there that aren't moderated at all; go check one out and see just how pleasant (or unpleasant) it is to write there. Technically speaking, moderators of other sub-forums don't see deleted posts and often lack the full context of a situation (since most people don't get flagged on their very first offense), and the rule is generally that they don't meddle in the moderation of other sub-forums.

On the flip side, you have a few posts of yours that sit right on the edge of hate speech, or are at the very least deeply offensive to a broad segment of the population, yet they passed with minimal sanctions or were merely deleted. My advice? Take the challenge. Try to engage in debate without injecting that emotional baggage—it’s harder, sure, but it’s more of a challenge. Plus, over time, you'll build up a certain reputation with the mods, and they might actually give you a pass once in a while. That has essentially been my tactic all these years.

Anyone thought about giving Vuletin some partial credit here?

Why?
Just having a little debate...

Chris Myers said:I’m just not feeling that whole Vuletin faction...

And honestly, what you said about how many people they've alienated... nobody's even gonna want to chat with them anymore. 😁

I really want to give a shout-out to our new moderator, Harold Evans4!!!

We finally have some middle ground between Gerald Chavez7’s heavy-handedness and the total "whatever happens, happens" vibe from Andrew Booth29.

I just hope you stay this way... don't let the job burn you out until you're seeing red because "dealing with people is impossible."

The sub actually needs this kind of guidance and actual warnings. It was missing big time. 🎉

On the STEM economy thread, these weirdos Deadpool and Gregory Ward have spent months doing nothing but posting flame wars and ad hominem attacks directed at me.
The moderators haven't lifted a finger.

They’re just straight-up trolling me and the rest of the users. They never once manage to drop a coherent, on-topic post.

Zero response from management.

What’s the move here? Should I check in on Anderlon’s health, or maybe file a complaint with the local water board?
What is even happening?? ☕

Maybe I should just stop posting on Reddit altogether?

If I stop contributing to the economy section or the site in general, when will this place finally see some actual on-topic, well-written, original content?
Is that what we want? 😁
Is that what the water board wants?

The content on this site is garbage, and most users are basically bots...
Who’s actually going to read this stuff; why force people who actually put effort into creating content and hits to stay on this forum?

It’s honestly hilarious how the guy who writes these kinds of posts always ends up whining that everyone else is starting flame wars or going off-topic.

Grace Jones86 The user said:Honestly, you see it all the time—blue-collar workers tend to share these same core principles when it comes to pretty much everything. It’s just how we're wired. 🍿

Honestly, this whole "groupthink" thing just absolutely gets under my skin. It’s everywhere, man—you see it in every single social circle, but it hits home hardest when I’m hanging out with my blue-collar crew at work. It’s beyond irritating. The way everyone just falls in line with the exact same opinion? It’s incredibly predictable and, frankly, just neurotic. It’s like they can't even function without following some unspoken script. ☕
It’s like everyone is stuck in this total fundamentalist mental stupor when it comes to how they view the world, their own interests, and how they actually relate to other people. It's honestly exhausting watching it happen.
Absolutely beautiful.

Grace Jones86 said:That’s some top-tier argumentation right there—seriously analytical, too. It’s refreshing to see someone actually sticking to the point and focusing on what was written instead of just taking shots at the person behind the keyboard. 👍

I see you’ve really mastered the art of being difficult. You’ve clearly put in the hours practicing how to start an argument about everything under the sun. Seriously, you're a pro at picking fights. 🤣😵

I freaking knew exactly what this Reddit thread was made of... I called it right in the very first post. ☕

Grace Jones86 said:Yeah, look, we’re talking about a massive danger here. Seriously.
You basically get to choose between two different kinds of hell... assuming you're actually sane or if you've gone off into the weeds working in a STEM field.

Look, if you aren't some stereotypical Asperger-guy but you somehow happen to be absolutely killing it in the STEM fields, people are naturally going to start looking at you sideways. You’re basically inviting suspicion. If you hang out with the usual crowd of neurodivergent types and all those other weirdos—and honestly, I had to deal with them—you just end up under the microscope. 😳 They’ll catch on eventually and decide you’re just some regular guy, and then they’ll start thinking you aren't cut out for an engineering role or whatever. It's because they can tell right away that you're wasting your time working with a bunch of absolute morons—people who are basically playing with blocks while everyone else is actually building something.

On the other hand, you’ve got this whole crowd of people out there who are just completely closed off... they basically assume you’re some kind of total moron the second you step into the "zone" or show any interest in it, even though that's just not how things work. zone, flowLook, I truly believe that being an absolute outcast and a bit of a weirdo is the ultimate mental phenomenon—it’s honestly the peak state of being. If you're out there doing anything remotely STEM-esque, people are going to look at you sideways, but that's just part of the deal.
And we really call this the 21st century? Give me a break. 🤦 Look, mark my words, in twenty or thirty years, the only jobs left on this planet are going to be STEM roles. Everything else? It's toast. Even the sex industry or massage therapy—it’s all going down the drain because we'll just have robot escorts and robot masseuses doing the dirty work instead. 😁 so even those pink-collar jobs aren't cutting it anymore...

Here’s a handful of posts taken straight from the first two pages of the thread because I honestly couldn't be bothered to go on explaining myself to all those incoherent, mindless ramblings—there are 170 of them in total, and trust me, the sample size is more than representative enough.

Gregory Ward said:Besides, the author of posts like this always complains when others flame them or go off-topic.

Here are a few posts from the first two pages of the thread. I won't bother explaining further because these incoherent outbursts mean nothing. There are 170 total; the sample is more than representative enough.

The fact that you can't understand or appreciate how I educated the vulgar masses on the division of labor—white collar, blue collar, and pink collar—or how I demonstrated what society thinks about "the zone" (and what a zone actually is, the flow), or the issues involved in working with engineers if you don't fit their personality type (that bit about Asperger's or general simpletons) is your own damn problem.

But it shouldn't be an issue for the site administration. They should be reading with some prior knowledge... which is presumably why they work these side gigs on forums... ☕

In this middle-of-the-road post, for instance, I am complaining about the incredibly pathetic level of debate where people have nothing but the tools to attack the participant instead of the actual subject matter.

Again, none of this matters if a person is literate... which is a massive question mark here.

And what should the moderators be defending? People who actually contribute content, not people who show up just to take cheap shots at the writer.

The moderation doesn't do that. They are extremely weak and incompetent. It shows exactly what Reddit thinks (which is nothing) about the people providing any actual substance...
(Flaming other users isn't content, though they clearly fail to grasp that.)

edit:
Why didn't you attack the actual content of these quoted posts? I would have gladly welcomed you attacking what I write. If you had, maybe I would have learned something from you.
But since you are utterly incapable of engaging with any actual content or challenging these posts, there is absolutely nothing worth reading or learning from you... which is obviously the ideal standard for the moderation on Reddit.☕

Third edit, honestly, who would’ve guessed that this self-proclaimed genius is actually just this massive ball of insecurity. 😁

Henry Mitchell29 said:Why didn't you attack the actual substance of the topic, like the content of these quoted posts? I would have loved for you to tear apart what I'm writing. If you had actually done that, maybe I could've learned something from you.
But since you're clearly incapable of engaging with any actual content or challenging those posts, there is absolutely nothing worth reading or learning from you... which, obviously, is the perfect ideal for the moderation team over at Reddit.☕

My last few posts were direct responses to yours, yet you acted like some offended little girl and claimed you were "walking away."

Grace Jones86 said:yeah, sure, I know a few people. 😵
And of course, that golden era of the American IT industry from 2009-2015 never happened.
It never happened.... 🙄

aha, yeah, it "rarely" happens that some storage fails, or that anything needs to be frantically handled as preparation or a reaction to some bullshit.
yeah, rarely. On average, it happens "rarely" every two weeks. 🙄☕

ok, thanks for telling me, mister. It's not like I've seen anything or have any experience; I've just been working as a repair guy for local shops. Ok, uncle, I'll go ask around. 🤣
I haven't heard anyone else talk about this crap, nor have I personally dealt with disasters in huge American IT systems... 🥱

keep walking.

Real deep stuff right there, buddy.

Third edit, because I have an absolute mountain of things to say... 😁

Your posts were barely more coherent than Deadpool's... and he’s an obvious troll who just launches insane flame wars at me (and other users randomly without any intention of actually contributing to the discussion), intentionally derailing the thread, which the mods clearly love... 🙄

And that post where I finally snapped at you? That was because you went ad hominem again 🙄 with your trash trolling and assumptions about who I know or who I should be talking to.
That has nothing to do with the damn topic.

etc...

You're messing with me, man, and the moderation is messing with everyone else on this damn site too. 😉

edit: This kind of "moderation" has been happening since Anderlon first took this place live about 20 years ago... so, not at all.
The only thing they seem capable of is locking threads. A stellar moderation team, as usual. 🤣

About 50 high-quality users who could actually write five related sentences—or even more—stopped posting a long time ago. I'm still dragging myself through this forum because I think I'm a genius 😁 and because I naively believe the mods might recognize that... or that they're capable of doing anything at all. ☕

It’s honestly pretty easy to follow your whole STEM manifesto—you show up, lecture everyone on everything, and just keep going week after week, post after post. Then, after a full year of silence, you pop back up with this thread and start...

Even with all that constant lecturing, you rarely actually ask an interesting question, so I'll give you the floor.

But I don't quite get how someone so convinced of their own brilliance feels the need to constantly seek protection from other users? You go out of your way to accuse people of trolling when they’re just acting totally normal—it's just that they won't buy into your "I'm a genius and everyone else is just a geeky loser" mantra...

Regarding the flame wars, I've already issued several warnings, and if this keeps up, there will be much harsher consequences coming...

Gerald Chavez7 said:It’s incredibly simple to read your entire body of work regarding STEM—you showed up, bragged about everything constantly for weeks, post after post. Then you revived this thread a year later with this post and started...

Even in that constant bragging, you rarely pose an actual interesting question, so I'll give you the floor.

But I don't get how someone so certain of their own genius has to constantly beg other users for protection. You're even accusing people of trolling when they're just acting normally and refusing to swallow your "I'm a genius and everyone else is just a geek loser" mantra...

Regarding the flame wars, I have issued warnings several times and harsher sanctions will follow if this continues...

I don't agree with one single word of this "explanation" of yours...

When I revived that thread with that post, it was absolutely legitimate. There isn't a single trace of "bragging about everything" in any of my writing there... 🙄
I was writing about the insane, degrading way the IT workforce is being treated. How is that unnecessary "bragging"?!?!?!? 🙄

Honestly... you don't resonate as a person or even as a moderator—not even in a politically correct sense, but because you are completely devoid of interest in the topic or understanding it. ☕

I still can't believe you actually wrote—"how someone so certain of their own genius has to constantly beg other users for protection"

What on earth is that supposed to mean?!?

Does this forum have rules? If it does, shouldn't those rules apply to all users equally, rather than letting those "certain of their own genius" 🙄 be subjected to senseless flaming by trolls just because you enjoy seeing that happen to users "like me"...
I seriously can't believe what I'm reading.

Et cetera...

A catastrophic "explanation."

I would demand a statement from the supermods or whoever... but there's no point. It's embarrassing to be posting in the same space as people who justify harassing users (especially that troll Deadpool who trolls everyone there) and behaving outside the rules...

Grace Jones86, no offense, but since you’re already chiming in on this sub-forum, I might as well give it to you straight.
Your whole vibe and the way you write is just weird—like, seriously weird. Honestly, most people would probably look at your posts and just call it trolling, flame wars, or you playing dumb.
You aren't objective for a second, especially when you start talking about work or the tech industry... which is basically all you ever talk about. Reading your descriptions, you’d think you were describing life in Auschwitz rather than just a typical day in an American IT office. You paint the entire industry as some massive victim of some imaginary persecution targeting you guys.
It’s not just me, either; plenty of other people on Reddit have noticed that you clearly went through some kind of workplace trauma, and now you're just dumping all those frustrations into your posts.
Look, I agree that nobody should tolerate being insulted or belittled by other users here, but the way you carry yourself practically invites that kind of reaction, so I’m not even surprised.
I was just asking you to dial it back a bit because this isn't exactly how you have a constructive conversation.

Let me jump in here—and this is really all I have to say:



This guy basically spends every other post calling people idiots, morons, or just plain fools—though he seems more than happy to spend his time praising himself. Honestly, I suppose anyone who can stomach reading through that endless, mindless rambling he manages to squeeze out of his keyboard deserves some kind of award—because personally, I lost interest a long time ago. 🤷

I’m guessing they aren't talking about me, even though my post is right there in the screenshot. 🤔