So that’s why we never went subscription!.
Then the mods would work for us. Including UncleBeer, and his damned list.
BTW, dantheman, dictators do have cronies. Couldn’t rule without them.
Of course it’s a dictatorship. Imagine the chaos if we were to follow lucwarm’s (tongue-in-cheek) suggestion. I do agree that a “trials” might make for interesting reading.
Peace,
mangeorge
i wouldn’t mind the dictatorship so much if they just explained the rules. i think i’ve had a couple of threads killed. is it wrong to speak to specifically about the stock market?
Dal Timgar
Yes you do. A country ruled by a small junta would be a dictatorship by any definition I’ve heard of.
Nice straw man.
It’s a dictatorship because the mods and admins have absolute power here, and they’re not elected. There’s nothing in the definition of dictatorship about how the ones in charge have to be evil or only looking out for their own good.
You people complain about The Great Cecil too much!
Just think of all the wonderful things he’s done for us…more to the point, the one true kind act, so befitting of a…man in charge. He’s provided us with this wonderful forum board system, set in place by the Ministry of Communication…Oh heavens! I’ve said too much. Eyes dart around:eek:
Hurry up! Drink your Kool-Aid before they kick the door in!!!
drinks
That’s funny. I thought that Jim Jones Jr. guy at that shop said this would taste a bit funny…
:smack:
I knew I forgot to put something in this!
…as shagadelicmysteryman sat in the dark pub, he looked at the picture of Cecil on the wall and smiled to hisself inwardly. It was true…he really did love Big Cecil…
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Dryga_Yes *
Not exactly. They don’t have absolute power. If they did, then they’d never, ever be held accountable. I’ve seen them apologize for things they’ve done and said; just recently, Tuba posted a somewhat concilitory message. I’ve seen manhattan apologize for a certain unprofessional remark he made. Part of the reason both of these situations occured was that people like you and me said something about it in a thread. If they had this absolute power, they wouldn’t even have to respond. They did.
You’re certainly right in that the “dictators” don’t have to be evil. According to M-W a dictatorship is “a form of government in which absolute power is concentrated in a dictator or a small clique”. However, that’s only the denotation. Not all governments in whiich the power is concentrated in one person or a small group are dictatorships - some kingdoms spring to mind. Dictatorship is a word that connotes bad behavior of some sort.
Also, whereas they may not be elected by you or me, they may be elected by those already in that position - I don’t know. I don’t know what happens if you apply to be a moderator.
mangeorge, I think ‘henchmen’ is an even better term. 
PS: Besides, absolute power corrupts absolutely, right? Well, you try offering them a bribe to do some kinda mod thing for you. ;0
We already have trials; they take place in the steamy courtrooms of the BBQ Pit. There is usually a plaintiff, a number of prosecutors, some defense lawyers, a jury of peers, and somewhere in the background there are a few judges.
Sparc
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Dryga_Yes *
Not exactly. They don’t have absolute power. If they did, then they’d never, ever be held accountable. I’ve seen them apologize for things they’ve done and said; just recently, Tuba posted a somewhat concilitory message. I’ve seen manhattan apologize for a certain unprofessional remark he made. Part of the reason both of these situations occured was that people like you and me said something about it in a thread. If they had this absolute power, they wouldn’t even have to respond. They did.
You’re certainly right in that the “dictators” don’t have to be evil. According to M-W a dictatorship is “a form of government in which absolute power is concentrated in a dictator or a small clique”. However, that’s only the denotation. Not all governments in whiich the power is concentrated in one person or a small group are dictatorships - some kingdoms spring to mind. Dictatorship is a word that connotes bad behavior of some sort.
Also, whereas they may not be elected by you or me, they may be elected by those already in that position - I don’t know. I don’t know what happens if you apply to be a moderator.
mangeorge, I think ‘henchmen’ is an even better term.
PS: Besides, absolute power corrupts absolutely, right? Well, you try offering them a bribe to do some kinda mod thing for you. ;0
As a constitutional monarchist (yes, it fits very well with my libertarianism, no time for that now 
), I love the idea of the board being a dictatorship if it’s run the way it is. It has a hierarchy useful for decision-making, but it allows great freedoms in discussion. It’s the perfect example of what a constitutional monarchy should be.
And here all along I thought it was an anarco-syndiclist-commune!
Another post of mine was eaten! Are you guys really buying that “hamster” story?
They don’t have to apologize, they choose too. Even dictators do things to appease the masses (such as appearing magnanimous and providing enterntainment, the examples you cited) to prevent revolts. Of course, dictators are not truly omnipotent - there is always a possibility of a revolution.
People seem to get mixed up about their rights. A right, like those listed in the Constitution and Declaration of Independence are inalienable rights that cannot be given, nor really taken away. Yet some folks seem to think that when you fail to provide them with the means the deem necessary, you are then depriving them of their rights.
Oh yeah, and HAIL LORD CECIL! Master of the knowable! Noble Sovereign of the SDMB! Protectorate of the High Holy Funk!
Of course, they’ll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes.
Bryan, are you crazy? Keep your mouth shut. We’re going to need the element of surprise if this is going to work.
I think there’s something to this, guys. After all, if anyone could make the trains run on time, it’d be Cecil.
All hail, emperor Cecil.
I always took it as a benevolent religious oligarchy.
Cecil is god. You never see him, but his presence, if you will, suffuses everything, and is the motive force for the entire enterprise. He may not, in all actuality, exist.
Ed Zotti is the high priest. While technically in charge, and directly answerable to Cecil, he rarely gets his hands dirty with the rabble.
Actual governing of the community is done by a small group of individuals with pretty much absolute power (The fabled Administrators. Luckily, they’re, by and large, nice people.
The moderators are the Admin’s lackeys. They seemingly have input on governance issues, but not the final say. They have authority to act when necessary in their particular realm of influence, but are still answerable to those in command. They do the grunt work. Even considering their lowly station in the overall hierarchy, they are certainly far and above us, the common clay, the Members.
Fortunately we can all get together and have some beers from time to time (except Cecil, of course).
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Genseric *
I always took it as a benevolent religious oligarchy.
[QUOTE]
I prefer the term hagiocracy (or maybe hagiarchy) myself.
I take back the taking of the fift. I will speak:
I have been in some other sites as well.
And cencored.
The thing is that the site located in e.g. U.S., can be procecuted.
I do remember one guy explaining these US-laws (in another site).
It was quite incredible. :eek: But so is the law in any country:
There can be very ancient laws, still “in power.”
The craziest example is Russia:
- there is the old Russian laws (tzar-time laws)
- there is the Soviet Union laws
- and the new bandit-capitalism laws (It is the pre-stage of capitalism).
And this country or its laws are totally anarcistic. You can do anything here, the freedom is maximazed and on the other hand if a judge look in these three laws carefully, You can’t do anything, just breath, slowly.
Put a site here and nobody will give a shit about it, what ever is written there.
Violate the copyright here and You are just smiled at. I know one shop in St Petersburg that sells original CD’s! Only one and I have earlier lived there a year!
In my town, population 300.000, there is no-one that sells anything original when we speak about CD’s and clothes with a brand-name.
Pee in the park and You get the militzia beating You up, robbing Your money (yes, they rob people, the salary is next to nothing) and taken before a judge.
Bathing in a fountain in Moscow gave two Finns three months prison.:rolleyes:
I just try to point out that the laws in US are incredible, so the site-owner should be checking what people are writing, but the laws in other countries are not better.
(Just so that nobody will think I begin to interfiere how a democratic country is making or having its laws…).
So I think that the mods has they rights - rightfully. Do they work rightfully, I do not know, maybe they never read my posts!
Such a nice guys!
Personally I have not been cencored here, but as I know, there would be very few sites where I could post what I’ve posted here.
I try not to butter You up, I’m just licking Your asses. (You know the bunch).
And please, do not use the “search” to find out what I have posted.:smack:
Forget even to check this post.
Heh. Good luck with that revolution, Che.
Fine, it’s a benign dictatorship. Funny, the OP contradicted itself in a few sentences:
Ha! Which is it? A friendly dictatorship or one in which “anyone [who] raises a voice [is] immediately scorned and subjected to ridicule”?
The thing is, the people who do this immediate scorning and ridiculing aren’t the ones in charge of this place. Who posts Pit threads about other members? The moderators? Uh-uh, never happen. Aside from the odd pithy comment, they certainly don’t go out of their way to make anyone’s life miserable. And besides that, if you have a genuine beef and you want it resolved, you can email them and state your case. Try that with a true dictator!
We should all be learning the so called ‘economy of the gift’ as ‘Uncle cecil’ gives and presents us with all these gifts (cafe society, great debates the more colourful message boards)
we thank him and offer our opinion and loyalty (yeah, to an extent) to the elite reprentatives of the people keep watch for our saftey as we cannot do it ourselves, as we are unable.
And as for my ‘darker side’ in the OP, just kidding about thats all, I just liked adding a bit of humour to the post obviously someone took it seriously. Sorry if it was misleading.
Well…this is Great Debates, you know. Seriosity is the norm! [I wonder if that’s a word. Norm might know.]