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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 4157979" data-attributes="member: 177">Yes, but... (there's always a "but"...)IF more and more real life institutions...  That's a big "if".  So far, we've only your opinion on that.  In fact, we've only your opinion that this place qualifies as an "institution" such that it actually matters what we do here, locally.  But, I think that's perhaps a fiddly-bit argument, compared to what follows...Quite true, maybe there is a better way.  In fact, I would venture to say that there probably is a better way, given that the number of ways to run the place is large to the point of being nigh infinite, it would be hubris to expect we'd just happened to have (perhaps somewhat intelligently) stumbled upon the optimal one.But one needs more than a suggestion to get action.  For, you see, with change there is risk.  We'd need more than a "suggestion" that the payoff to the users (and thus to Morrus) is large enough to take on risks.  In fact, to do otherwise would be ignoring our obligation to our users.Consider it this way - it is quite possible to make Perfect the enemy of Good.  This place is not explicitly democratic.  But the mods, admins, and Morrus do listen.  The place is good, gosh darn it.  Maybe not perfect, true.  But flailing around trying different systems can do a great deal of harm, in terms of stability and respect.  So, I, personally, would need more than suggestion that this would be better to risk harming our users.If the place sucked the scum off the floors of bathrooms in Grand Central Station, I might well jump at a reasonable suggestion - not much to lose, and a lot to gain.  But it would not be serving our users to fuddle with something good on that same basis.Except, of course, that one fails here - while we are not explicitly democratic in our written rules, the fact of the matter is that we are responsive to the will of our citizens.  Moreso than most, I expect.  Most of the moderation here is done at the suggestion of the citizenry.  Reported posts are the mods' bread and butter here, you know - the Reported Posts and Meta forums are the first places I go every single time I come to the site.  We have created (and removed) whole forums at the request of the citizenry.  EN2 is coming up including things the citizens have asked for.  It is kind of difficult to sell us on the "you ought to be democratic, so that the citizens voice can be heard" when, honestly, we are hearing and enacting their will every day.</blockquote>

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