Alright I'm going to have to disagree specifically on that point. I otherwise agree with your argument that there's no homogenous "they" banding together (And t

Alright I'm going to have to disagree specifically on that point. I otherwise agree with your argument that there's no homogenous "they" banding together (And there's an article for that, even! [0] And an article nuancing that view too. [1]) But I emphatically take issue with the idea that it's reasonable to shut down what sounds like, in your words, "very legitimate concerns" instead of guiding the concerned users through the proper process, fostering a healthy discussion. If I'm being harsh, isn't that the role of an admin, someone who should know better? It's important to follow rules, and I could ironically cite you a dozen Wikipedia guidelines that argue for[4][5][6][7] or against[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] the idea that not following proper process should get your concerns shut down. But one of the founding and most important principles of Wikipedia[2] is precisely that it has no firm rules. What it has are guidelines that have been found to work well, and policy that one is expected to follow unless there is a reason not to. The moment that heavily codified process is used by experienced editors against less experienced ones or against people who have a legitimate concern, that is not helpful process and not a fair or acceptable outcome. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_Is_No_Cabal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_Is_No_Cabal [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:CABAL https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:CABAL [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:5P5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:5P5 [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:LAWYER https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:LAWYER [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:NOCOMMON https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:NOCOMMON [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:RECKLESS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:RECKLESS [6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:CAUTIOUS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:CAUTIOUS [7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:EXPECT https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:EXPECT [8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:IAR https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:IAR [9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:BOLD https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:BOLD [10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:SNOWBALL https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:SNOWBALL [11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:NOTBURO https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:NOTBURO [12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:NOTFATRAT https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:NOTFATRAT [13] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:COMMON https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:COMMON [14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:REASONABILITY https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:REASONABILITY [15] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:PRINCIPLE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:PRINCIPLE