Poking The Tiger

I'm not one who enjoys being on my knees. I will offer apologies, I will even offer penance. But I will never become a fucking whipping boy.

With that in mind, I am going to poke the fucking tiger.

The board I used to belong to...the owners booted me. For good reason. We've discussed this here in this blog before. I don't begrudge them. It's their right.

But what I will say, is how incestuous they have all become.

They recruit spies on Facebook to monitor what members of their board, who became friends outside of their message board, say on Facebook. They monitor what people say outside of their own forums.

They are now paranoid, insular, and so protective of what they created, that they cannot STAND to have dissension. Or criticism. They have become the equivalent of the Soviet Politburo.

They give out bread and toilet paper and rations (their message board). What they now expect of the members is blind obedience and compliance in exchange.

Free thought and opinion is only allowed when it falls into the realm of what they approve. And their range for what they approve of is steadily shrinking. Over the 5 years I was there, I saw this happen, little by little.

And what it reveals now more than anything is a grossly obvious hypocrisy. And a double standard so wide you could drive a fleet of semis through it.

If you are a kiss-ass. If you are someone who sucks up, and does what they want you to in support of the board, then the strict rules they have about things like "on board relationships" are set aside for you. Not only are they set aside, your relationship with the other member is celebrated and cheered on by the mods and owners!

At the same time, they are saying things like this. "If you find yourself in a relationship with another member, then you don't need this board anymore and you should be gone".

Fucking hypocrites.

They encourage and love adulation as authority figures. They constantly talk about how hard it is to be a moderator and that the members have "no idea" what goes on behind the scenes.

Here's a newsflash, assholes. You volunteered to be a moderator. So fucking suck it up, and stop your fucking whining, or get the fuck out.

Don't whine to the members and expect all sorts of kudos and praise for what you do, all the while lamenting how hard your "job" is. Face it. If you didn't LOVE it, you would never have volunteered. And you do love the power it gives you.

So stop the fucking bullshit and the fishing for compliments. Just do your fucking job. Or get out and go arrange flowers or make pine cone baskets if you can't deal with it. Nobody forced you to run that site or to be a moderator. So please. Shut the fuck up. I don't feel sorry for you. I don't feel bad for you. You ASKED for the job. Suck it up.

What I despise is when people take something that allows for free expression...and then they get it...and then, they don't like what some people say. They don't like criticism. So they shut it down. The make it "my way or the highway". Well, they have that right.

But it doesn't make it good and noble.

It just makes it self-serving.

For all the good that board has done. It has NOTHING to do with the owners or the moderators. It has everything to do with the members who help each other.

What it is now is a pale ghost of what it once was. It used to be a free and safe place to express what you feel and to express your opinions.

It is now a place where your opinion is okay, so long as they APPROVE of the content of your speech.

King George would have approved.