You guys decided to let Ake drive this bus?

Prompted by Ake's comment, but "you" is generic.

Some years ago, Max asked me if I wanted to be a "volunteer" here, at what was essentially a website for those who shared a common interest in folk. I would fix HTML and line breaks (it wasn't automatic then) and delete duplicate and blank posts. If people argued, they did so with an underlying repect and there were lines that never seemed to be crossed.

Now, there are threads exclusively for people to argue. Most of those people don't seem to care at all about folk music.

Max once said Mudcat was whatever the people here wanted it to be. Some of them want it to be a long series of bar brawls. People who don't want that can do nothing about it except complain. Because those who are engaged in the bar fights don't care. They don't care about bothering others or making the place seem poisoned. They don't care how stupid or petty they look. They don't care about "nice" and "respectful. They don't care about winning a fight, just the process of fighting. They care about being able to do what THEY want, whenever and wherever they want to do it.

There are too many of them, and they're too intent on keeping the nastiness going, and I can't win. I've deleted posts attacking one person, only to have that person fire off three retaliatory messages in the minutes it took to delete the attack that prompted it all. Then they accused me of making them look stupid. I didn't do that. There are people who, if they show up, their usual adversaries can be predicted to join soon, and selfishly and make it impossible for anyone else to contribute. There are some who intentionally troll, but mostly, there are is a ready-made group of... I know it's not the best term, but it's as disgusting as I can manage to get.. troll-fuckers: a bunch of jerks who come in looking to be provoked and take advantage of any offense. Some are in the US and some are British. I don't see other countries getting involved routinely.

I know this is not what Max wants for his site, but I'm one person, and I can only do what I can do. If someone complains about personal abuse because they're engaging in a pub brawl and get a bloody nose, STAY OUT OF THE FUCKING FIGHTS. If it happens in a music discussion, or if someone gets blind-sided, I'll try to stop it. If you want adult supervision to make the bad kids behave, you probably shouldn't be on the internet. That's not why I'm here. I don't enjoy reading unpleasantness. I don't choose to because it makes me sick, and I'm here for what I love, not what I hate.

No one can control you but you.
You are the ONLY person you can control.