Jay,
I respectfully suggest that you're missing the key point. SI is intended to be a predominantly investment oriented discussion site, not a microcosm of society. The argument that all investments are affected by politics which therefore justifies their inclusion on all investment threads is a non-starter.
With that in mind, SI made possible many years ago the ability for members to create subjects that are not specifically investment oriented. The reason for doing so was to minimize off-topic posts on the investment threads by providing alternatives for non-investment related discourse.
Over the past few years, the dynamics have been hurt, in part, by inattention to minimizing off-topic posting on investment threads, and other subjects for that matter. Many past members have left or ceased posting because of the effort required to weed through off-topic posts to find ones that pertained to the subject, not to mention the intimidation, vulgarity, and generally uncivil behavior of a small number of other members.
Since there is effectively an appropriate place available to discuss any subject desired, it's reasonable to require members to at least make an attempt to respect the intended subject for each individual thread. For those who prefer anarchy, there's always the Yahoo! boards.
In regard your other question, I haven't received or been made aware of any inquires he may have made to other SI contacts regarding the possibility of reinstatement. Presumably he would have done so had there been an interest.
That said, I don't see how the site or the membership at large would benefit from a reinstatement. It would most likely serve to embolden both him and his fellow CFZers to become even more acrimonious towards SI, the TOU and other members, if that's even possible. That's not acceptable and would have to be answered for there to be consideration for reinstatement. |
