Collipso made the mistake of thinking that this forum is a democracy. It isn’t, nor should it be.

One thing I worry about is that the toxicity once held in the politics thread could drift into other areas of the forum once somewhat immune. How often have we said ‘Take it to the politics thread’ to preserve the civility of another one? Now the only recourse is to ban members who wish to express political views, or lock any thread which becomes mired in such toxicity. For this reason, I think there’s a place for such a thread.

But bigger picture, what do we want in this forum?

I think everyone who frequents this site comes here because they find something here to enjoy, whether it’s the projects, the other members, Star Wars in general, or even some peculiar interest only served by the Off-Topic section. For me, I try to read every topic in the General and Fan Preservation/Fan Edits sections, and much of the Off-Topic section(s). I love to see people’s creativity and hear their love for movies. I think there is still a lot of this site which feels like it’s from an earlier internet time, when the camaraderie of shared interests overwhelmed any cynicism or division. Or maybe I joined in a time of relative calm, where the Star Wars universe was just six movies forvermore and we all knew how we felt about them, and this is all a case of rose-colored glasses.

The temptation is strong to descend into mean-spirited arguments with other members, to make decisions one later regrets. I’m no stranger to that vice. So I guess my point is that we could all stand to remember what brought us here in the first place, and what we want this site to be.