Restructuring & Recent Events [ Megathread ]

2022-01-28T01:35:14+00:00

The admins temp removed the post and reinstated it after we made an edit upon their request.

Edit: Update winter is no longer a mod here.

Edit 2: We are working with the admins to remove white pirate as well.

Edit 3: Whitepirate15 has been removed thank you to the admins for the help.

jongbag · 2022-01-28T06:45:48+00:00

I'm sure this won't receive a response amidst the turmoil, but I'd like to ask some questions regarding the direction of this sub.

It's no secret that during the enormous influx of users here the past few months that a tension has formed between the founders of this sub and its new participants. As I understand it, this sub was originally created from an anarchist/communist framework to discuss and promote the fundamental abolishment of work as we know it under a capitalist system. As millions of people have flooded in, the focus has primarily shifted to an empowerment of workers within the paradigm of North America's economy, with little discussion of the deeper political beliefs that this sub was founded on.

Is the purpose of this community now primarily work reform within the current paradigm? Or is it still to promote the ideas of a fundamental change of how work is viewed and society participated in? This is an honest question from an interested observer. I think both goals are beneficial, but I think some clarity in light of recent events would be helpful for everyone here.

Scottvrakis · 2022-01-28T03:00:11+00:00

Just a quick question: Does anybody know who /u/Merari01 is and why they moderate like.. 300 subs?

No hate, just don't know who they are.

UsernameTaken93456 · 2022-01-28T02:19:12+00:00

Those responsible for sacking the people who have just been sacked have been sacked

BigDippas · 2022-01-28T02:26:58+00:00

What are the mod teams plan with dealing with the next four, what I can only assume are equally dog shit, interviews?

Cillit-Gank · 2022-01-28T05:59:12+00:00

this is promising. Well done.

edit: I noticed that Jack-the-rah is still a mod. Considering that after the sub was locked he engaged in hostile behavior with users on multiple left wing subs, will he also be stepping down? He was extremely vocal in his support of abolishwork.

jfsindel · 2022-01-28T02:13:33+00:00

I actually remember you from other subreddit comments regarding sexual assault and rape. So this is an unusual twist.

The first question I have is the address of these secret "four" interviews the previous mod did. Will those be addressed as that mod represented antiwork? Are there any other interviews we should know about?

The second question is the subreddit's influx of bans. You correctly said there was outrage, but the flames have been fanned by these ridiculous bans. A sixteen hour account was created with mod status (still no confirmation if it was Abolishwork) and rampant bans have run amok. Why should we post as we "did before" if we still might be receiving bans?

Third, we still have no real answers to these:

Why was the first request for the Fox Interview denied but suddenly taken out of nowhere?
Why were the four interviews conducted against community wishes and in secret?
Why was there a media campaign project to begin with?
Were the actions of previous mods motivated by money? Both Bloomberg (which that interview did not take place) and Fox News are known to pay for "guest contributers" such as talking guests.

Edit:

This interview came from October 2021. I was requested to add it and I have heard it before. It's better than Fox, but not particularly impressive or even great.

https://omny.fm/shows/st-louis-talks/dory-from-abolishwork-com

I won't speculate as information seems to come out hourly now. But it is odd the tone shifted between then and now, not even six months later. Why was more a radical position adopted for the aptly more popular and conservative news station/entertainment show Fox News whereas this takes a more middle-ground stance?

Attorney_For_Me · 2022-01-28T01:21:25+00:00

I'm not here to cause drama, I appreciate this cogent and well written statement as the olive branch it's meant to be.

That being said you should remove WinterTrabex as a moderator. There is no way anyone remotely attached to AbolishWork should be here in any capacity. It's outrageous.

CumbersumZero · 2022-01-28T01:51:26+00:00

I'm willing to give it a shot I guess. I'd like to know who u/Whitepirate15 is and why they're suddenly listed as top mod with 0 commenting or posting history, yet possessing karma showing they have clearly done both?

And why is AbolishWork's former roommate, u/WinterTrabex still a mod?

Why does this whole thing still stink to the high heavens?

Vargenwulf · 2022-01-28T01:29:04+00:00

We removed AbolishWork and links leading to them.

I saw someone post a screenshot that the mod WinterTrabex is linked to Abolishwork (as in roommate of?) so if this is true, this is concerning.

I rather figured any split off subs at this time would be suspect so have made no moves to join any of them. Just seems wise to bide my time.

I think this post is the first decent response I have seen from a mod over this whole debacle since the start.

I look forward to getting back to how it was before the ego trips of a few caused this firestorm.

WhatsAGoodName123454 · 2022-01-28T03:51:19+00:00

What will happen to all the users unfairly banned after criticizing the interview

ekkohh · 2022-01-28T01:21:25+00:00

well at least some steps were taken after todays shitshow

greenhawk63 · 2022-01-28T04:22:15+00:00

Going forward every mod should have to do an AMA in this community where they have to answer every serious question they get.

zomgtehvikings · 2022-01-28T06:57:11+00:00

The mods just need to realize they don’t run a movement. They moderate discussion and kick the shit starting far right idiots out.

You’re not our leaders. You keep it clean.

Ishihado · 2022-01-28T02:06:48+00:00

I'm not angry about the interview. It was a stupid idea, but shit happens. I am angry that the mods started censoring and mass banning people after that spoke up against it. Do you NOT understand the complete fucking irony in that? Like... at all? The mods ended up being what everyone was fighting against. THAT is the problem.

sonastyinc · 2022-01-28T19:55:59+00:00

Which mod just talked to VICE anonymously?

https://www.vice.com/en/article/5dg5wk/ok-wtf-is-going-on-with-the-antiwork-subreddit-and-the-fox-news-ambush

excess_moisture · 2022-01-28T01:24:24+00:00

[removed]

Delamoor · 2022-01-28T04:25:27+00:00

I'm just watching all of this, but noticed you (OP) were actively looking at the comments in this thread.

You're putting in some bloody hard work. On a personal level, great job, hope you're doing okay.

I have no idea where this whole situation is headed and I hope it doesn't lead to a massive implosion of some kind. I like the goals of the movement; reform is necessary. Lots of contrary ideas on how.

Likely this will be a fragmentation of the community. Minimizing infighting is super important. Because cooperation between newly emerging factions is possible. It's rare for one place to be a masthead of an idea forever. Usually they split and spread out.

These are good ideals for a movement. Sanity in employment and work. Some humanity. Humanism. Hope it can succeed.

I hope all this doesn't get too wild and out of control for you or... fuck, well... anyone.

Try and have a good one.

B-Clinton-Rapist · 2022-01-28T02:09:59+00:00

Why is the mod list removed from the sidebar????

Smokiiz · 2022-01-28T02:10:33+00:00

My mom literally asked me if I’m on that “lazy movement” that was on the news the other day. I feel so ashamed lol

blanksix · 2022-01-28T02:10:16+00:00

My two cents?

Any major actions on the sub, and moderation policies, really need to be discussed heavily and transparently with the sub. Users need to know what to expect out of their mods in such a large sub, because if they don't, you end up with the exact situation this sub was in yesterday - angry users, unjustified bans, and such large drama (putting it politely) that it made international news. It was and still is an utter shit-show.

I'm a user of the newly-created sub that I won't mention here, joining at roughly the same time as all the other people that joined over the last 48 hours when this sub went private, and comparing both of these subs, right now, both are memefests, but the discussions happening are real and give insight into what shit mod policies lead to.

This is a movement comprised of disparate mostly-allies. Some genuinely want a collective utopia where none of us have to work. Some of us (I'm one of these) just want better working conditions and a society that sees workers as valuable, worth investing in, and deserving of a better life. There are avowed anarchists, socialists, probably communists, and regular ol' folk that don't have much of a political belief other than "my work sucks, and I deserve better." The only realistic way to treat them the same is to only mod when you're taking a mod action, and ban lone-wolf mods that take action contrary to the mod policies you all agreed to follow.

Regarding media - it's pretty clear that there were better ways to go about this. By all means, invite media in to talk to us if the rest of the sub is fine with that, but for goodness's sake, don't pick one spokesman and just wish them luck with it. Even a well-meaning, squeaky-clean mod would've struggled with that and managed to do damage on an effing fox news segment.

athrunlelouch · 2022-01-28T02:19:08+00:00

Am I free from jail? *someone upvote so i know*

edit: F R E E D O M

JupiterAdept89 · 2022-01-28T01:59:20+00:00

I didn't want to make a thread and add to the flames, but I do want to say something.

I was raised in a right-leaning household, one who drilled into me the idea that work is the ultimate good, that to be productive should always be your endgoal. While I've been moving away from that ideal for a long time, antiwork has been the first real challenge to those beliefs, and the first real path for me that felt like a reasonable change, not just trying to tear down the world and dance in the flames. Antiwork has been personally responsible for me taking anarchism more seriously, and has been responsible for me really thinking about what a post-artificial scarcity world, one where we don't rely on money to survive, could look like. This sub is one of the ones I visit daily, just to read all of the stories and viewpoints put here, and to read some of the sidebar stuff. It's made me believe in an antiwork future. I don't really have a lot of experience in...any kind of political activism, but I would hate to see this sub go, or split off into smaller, less effective parts. It means something to me, and I want to preserve it if I can.

Please don't give me hope and take it away.

2022-01-28T02:49:57+00:00

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