Excellent post.
But I think your analogy to a shopping center and a security guard is not quite on the nose. In a shopping center the value to the shoppers comes from the merchandise. In a discussion forum the value to the participants comes from the other participants. What makes SI valuable is the quality of the insights which are presented here. I feel that Anthony's insights were particularly useful. And, thus, for me SI's value has been somewhat diminished by his absence.
But it's also true that what makes SI a pleasurable experience is the absence of spamming, libel, threats, etc. For SI to work optimally there should be none of this. I recently saw you subjected to more abuse than is appropriate in a moderated, civilized discussion. I feel it was wrong, and, while it may not have violated the Terms of Use, I'm delighted people spoke up. I also share your your concern about a lax enforcement of real violations of the Terms of Use. Someone else, I think, commented that putting Anthony's expulsion to a vote is a dangerous precedent--what are we going to do, vote on everyone who's booted? I don't deny that this is a thorny issue. But I feel that it's appropriate for us to take some responsibility for whom we choose to include in our dialogues and not just vote with our feet to leave SI if it no longer proves of value. We're lucky SI has afforded us that opportunity.
I don't know why Anthony was booted, but I assume it was for a good reason. I know many people found him "conceited", and even I shared some people's irritation that he was too quick in assuming that people on the opposite side of an issue had questionable motives. But Anthony had an experience few of us had. He spent the early years of his career working for people he looked up to--only to discover later that they were crooks. He spends most of his time now looking into shady companies; so he's become a little like the cop who deals with scum day in and day out and thus is overly suspicious of well-meaning, normal people. In some ways he is his own worst enemy. But, for those of you who have seen only his quick temper, I would really encourage you to read more of his posts, especially on his own thread. I would be surprised if you didn't come away with the impression that his net contribution here, even accounting for the posts that irritated you, was extraordinarily positive.
But the issue of Anthony's return goes beyond merely the quality of his posts. In your message you tried to distinguish Anthony, the short-selling poster, from Anthony, the nice guy in person. While I agree with that in principle, in Anthony's case it's a little more fuzzy. On the site he helped people. In other words, there were people whom he never met--who posted problems--and he helped them with his own resources recover money they were owed, sometimes from large and powerful brokerage firms. I mean, this is pretty extraordinary. It's what has generated a veneration in some of Anthony's followers/friends that, I know, many other people find revolting. But the veneration was earned through actions. Please note the level of contribution that Anthony made here--your and my contributions here are simply posts; Anthony went much further.
Ultimately we're confronted here with a choice, which like most referendums does not yield a perfect answer. We're presented with an admittedly flawed person, but someone who went way beyond the call of duty in his commitment to SI and its members--someone whose background as a market maker gave him a unique insight to investing (the reason we're all here), someone whom I and others believes is really quite extraordinary in his insight and generosity. We can vote to vote to bar him from SI--and we'll feel pleased about our consistent application of the Terms of Use and "that no one is above the law". Or we can be bigger than that, recognize that everyone makes mistakes, and distinguish between Anthony and the many expellees who made little contribution before their forced exit. The question is, "Is this someone who deserves a second chance?"
I'm voting that he is, and I hope you'll do the same. |
