Dear Reddit,

Over the past year there have been a great many revelations about this community. Whether it was a user revealing a cabal of moderators attempting to control the website or a leaker revealing the contempt many moderators hold for users, we have witnessed one thing: the truth. Truth hurts, but only the guilty will feel its sting. The innocent and ethical see it as a great power for good, while the corrupt do anything they can to hide. Every lie is uncovered eventually, and throughout this year we have seen evidence of that. Even still however, the corrupt cling to their positions of imagined power and fight the crowds to remain in control of their make believe kingdoms. Whistleblowers are threatened into silence, and those that talk of the information they provide are shadowbanned. Entire communities are wiped from existence, and its users are attacked mercilessly for having the audacity to ask questions. Through any means neccessary the opponents of these groups are silenced. Censorship is not only their primary weapon, it's the only one they've got.

I know a lot about censorship, and about these people. I was a part of their world for a few years and in that time I learned everything about them. They're not like you. They see no problem in silencing thousands of people if it means an opposing viewpoint doesn't get heard. They have no problem in making threats, or in trying their best to ruin people that oppose them. You're not a person to them. You're just part of a statistic. A statistic of subscribers and users that is used to measure their worth against one another, and value their subreddits like poker chips for the best trading value. They're running a game that people are tired of playing.

It doesn't stop at a few dozen moderators. The more you look the more these small connections start to appear. Moderators trading favors, even outside of reddit, among friends. Moderators making deals with journalists to shame or get back at their enemies. Moderators colluding with news and political outlets for their own gain. Administrators shadowbanning users for speaking up, or shadowbanning whistleblowers for revealing inconvenient truths. Administrators playing politics with millions of readers. Administrators who lie just because they can. This is an  interconnected network of people who spend their days manipulating others for their own gain. It's an embarassment not because they are people who hold positions of power over others, but simply because they are people. People like you and I who, through some mistaken thought or bad circumstance have taken to idealizing corruption and shunning morality.

These ideas they have makes getting this group to trust you difficult. You have to show that you're willing and happy to do the things they do. Censorship, threats, blackmail, nepotism, silence, and above all else that you're a good ol' boy. You have to bend the knee and become tied to their ideology. What is different must disappear, and what harms the group must not be allowed to exist. People who question them should be silenced, and groups against theirs must be eliminated. When you have gained their trust and been accepted into the group, you will never go a day without being appalled by the things you hear. It will make you wonder if you truly believe in the best of people, and will test your ability to drive off cynicism with everything you have. The longer you sit in that circle, the harder it will be to accept that anyone is good at heart. The idea that people could act like this over some internet community drives you to reconsider what people will do for something that actually matters.

Still, this isn't entirely about them. It's about what they represent. The idea they champion is that the people are lesser, inequal, and unable to stand up to them. Why shouldn't they step on you, berate you, and make your life hell? You're just a statistic, after all, and what use is a statistic with ideas? Well I have my own ideas. I envision a community of equal individuals working together to keep everyone happy, of universal transparency and respect at every level and between every person. I see a future where we all can act like adults and put aside the destructive and divisive politics so that we can coexist, rather than spend all day arguing over things nobody actually cares about. I imagine a community where we are all free to be who we are without being brought down by those in power whose opinions and prejudices have been elevated into authority. None of these ideas make me insane, but they do make me an enemy of those in charge. It adds a name and a belief to what should be a quiet, subservient statistic. Well I am not your statistic. I am not your servent, I am not your whipping boy, I am not your shield, and I am not your excuse. I am a person just like every single one of you, and I am not willing to be who you want to force me to be.

I'm not alone, either. The support for these ideas, and the people behind them, is staggering. Tens of thousands have made these same points before, and many thousands more have been outspoken in their support for change. Many have been banned or otherwise silenced for doing so, and yet the speech continues. Well, we're not asking anymore. This is a demand for change. Included with this letter is a sheet for you all to sign. Signing it shows your commitment to stand with the ideas presented in this letter. You commit to help change reddit, and further it as an oasis of transparency and personal freedom. Your subreddits will be champions of respect, free speech, transparency, accountability, and ethics. You will not censor opinions that go against your own, or insult your users and those that want your help, or cover up the actions of any moderator or administrator, or hide the truth from those that seek it.

There have been many who have worked for years to change reddit for the better. Some have worked from within the cancerous cabal of moderators to bring about change slowly, while others have created subreddits and compiled information, directly creating the change they wish to see. We have gained significant momentum with these actions, with the userbase of reddit becoming more aware of the issues that plague the community around them. We're all waiting for something good to happen, and soon it will. These coming days will be the tipping point from which the future of reddit is determined.

Moderators, I ask that you sign below indicating your support. It will not go unnoticed. The corrupt few will hate you, but the masses of the innocent will sing your praises. Share the letter and ask others to sign as well. If you are truly an ethical person then you will see no problem in what signing it entails. The corrupt, the tyrannical, the liars, they're the ones that have to worry.  Help us change reddit. All of us, together, can make it something to be proud of once again.


	Sincerely,
	Xavier Mendel (/u/XavierMendel)