"Example is not just another way to teach. It's the only way." -- attributed to Albert Einstein. Hello fellow Wikipedia-users, can't we be more cordial and polite towards one another? It's gotten to the point where I may unsubscribe ... Peter Blaise responds: No. But, I suggest that we all use our down-arrow or delete keys, instead of using all those other keys to show our objections. There's noise, and then there's echo, and if the noise bothers us, echoing that noise in the form of objecting to that noise is not helping reduce the noise much. I put it to you: what's the alternative? Banning? And in who's hand? A moderator? Voted in, or self-appointed? And who gets banned? Vandals and spammers? Seems simple enough. How about off topic contributions? Occasional or extended off topic contributors? Who decides? In my experience, the more powers we give to an arbitrary moderator, the more we then ask that moderator to do our thinking and censoring for us. And for what? The convenience of avoiding the pain of cleaning our own inbox, of scrolling our own down-arrow keys by ourselves? And then the moderator starts reading content on their own, and deleting or banning based on their own sensibilities of what they think is personally offensive. Then the criteria migrates even further to reviewing content for what the moderator thinks is constructive, or in line with their philosophy, culture, or whatever personal whims. It becomes the moderator's blog, and that's NOT the purpose of someone tasked with supporting the community as a whole. The moderator themselves become the destructive force within the community. Power corrupts. Absolute power (to ban) corrupts absolutely. So, I suggest that if we object to noise, then we ourselves set an example of low-noise contribution, and merely scroll on past whatever we personally think is noise. Democracy is messy. Patience, tolerance, acceptance, and equivalent consideration are tough virtues to attain, but I think, worth goals to ascend to. Why not here? Why not now? like the ideals behind the project and wish to continue, but would really like it if we can please tone down the drama and be more civil and cordial towards one another? If people can't control themselves, then maybe this list could use moderation. Though if the moderator is engaging such language, that's not good ... Peter Blaise responds: I vote for all avenues of contribution to be: - free and open for all - multiple co-moderators - no banning I hope my contributions set an example, and I'll scroll past other's contributions if they are not a good match for my interests at the moment. But I do not desire that anyone get banned because they contribute something I don't like. I can control my own inbox, just as I control what I toss when my physical mail arrives at home. I don't cry and wail when I get junk mail and unsolicited crap in my physical mail at home, so why do so on the Internet? Love and hugs, Peter Blaise