Good morning!

As many of you already know, I have spent several years transcribing koans here in this little subreddit. I've always been happy to do it, and I've always considered it my own little way of "giving back" to the Reddit community at large.

This may seem hard to believe, but when I first discovered reddit (back in 2006 or so) it propagated the classic "hacker culture" What do I mean by this? It encouraged creativity, intelligence, community participation- and above all else- discouraged censorship in any form.

I realize that sounds absolutely insane in the context of the Reddit of 2015, but its true. There was a time (albeit a long time ago) when Reddit understood that the freedom of speech was more important than the feelings of SJW's.

I do not care for the leadership of Ellen Pao. And I don't intend to rant and rave my own personal politics at you; you are all free to agree or disagree with me however you wish. But as for me- I simply refuse to spend any more time building content and traffic for an organization that simply does not share my core values anymore.

Reddit is filled- FILLED- with ridiculous, offense subreddits. This has been true since the moment I first arrived. I could link to the most vile, gross, racist, sexist, violent, mentally unhinged subreddits that exist, but rather than illustrate my point, that would only drive traffic to them, so I won't.

My biggest problem with the new pro-censorship policies of Ellen Pao is that they are inconsistent. I myself am extremely offended both by many of these remaining subreddits, and by the behavior of reddit admins. However, for reasons known only to reddit administration, some offensive subreddits will be banned, and other allowed to thrive.

I know for a fact that some people are offended by /r/koans here. They are offended by my habit, and they are convinced I "don't get it". Others are offended by non-Christian religions altogether. Yet others aren't offended by the koans themselves, but of the general "cultural conquest" as our primarily-white audience assimilates eastern culture. Point being: there is no shortage of potential reasons to be offended.

I believe that when offense occurs, the correct course of action is to either (a) engage in thoughtful debate to establish a better understanding and/or (b) ignore the bullies who are simply trying to get a rise out of you.

Ellen Pao and her staff elect instead for a policy of selective censorship- where some offensive things are removed, and other offensive things (things that personally offend the hell out of me myself) are allowed to fester. I am simply not ok with this. Who has the authority to decide what content has merit and which content does not? And just because I personally dislike or am offended by a subreddit, should I have the right to butt-in and shut it down?

This entire "victim culture" is absolutely poisonous and it does nothing but further victimize those it intends to help.

I am ashamed and embarrassed to have wasted so much of my time on this service. Rather than "offend" anyone further, I will self-censor, and this will be the last you hear from me.

If anyone wishes to take over this subreddit, send me a PM and I will happily hand over the keys.

Good luck to all of you with your additional study.

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EDIT: I feel the need to clarify the concept of "freedom of speech".

Legally, as an American, this usually refers to the First Amendment, a specific law that prevents Congress from establishing any laws that limit freedom of religion or the press, usually referred to collectively as "freedom of speech". It has been interpreted to apply to all sorts of mediums beyond the written word, including but not limited to, music, film, Internet memes, and all sorts of other media that simply did not exist yet when this law was written. Furthermore, the "freedom" of speech is absolutely limited, and for a variety of different reasons. Yelling "fire!" in a crowded theatre is a crime, as is producing a t-shirt with Mickey Mouse on it (without the permission of Disney)- just to name two quick examples.

The legalities of the "freedom of speech" is a fascinating topic, and my personal opinions were strongly influenced by my (now dead) personal heroes such as Frank Zappa and George Carlin and Bill Hicks and Aaron Swartz.

But- Reddit is not Congress, nor is it passing any laws in violation of any constitutional rights. And I wasn't trying to claim otherwise. As a private company, Reddit is free to set (and change) their Terms of Service at any time. By using this service, I am agreeing to said terms. They can make whichever policies they wish, and censor whatever they like. But do not conflate a legal technicality with a philosophical value.

Anyone can "censor". For example, private network television stations often edit R-rated films to remove thing considered profane for broadcast. Photographs may be blurred or cropped. Parents might disallow specific content. A school might remove certain materials. Calling these acts of censorship is meant to be descriptive, not alarmist. There are perfectly reasonable reasons we censor things, and most acts of censorship are not part of a vast conspiracy to deprive us of liberty but rather, an attempt to make things more pleasant.

I totally get that. Not everyone wants to listen to Frank Zappa. I totally get that too.

But for me, the entire issue boils down to a simple (if not pretentious) quote:

I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.

This is often credited to Voltaire, but regardless of who said it, the truth is contained herein.

Now- can I address the elephant in the room? The banning of "Fat People Hate"?

If you wish to waste hours of your life looking through my comment history, you will see that a year ago I had lamented the fact I was nearly 240lbs, and still smoking a pack of cigarettes per day- two extremely unhealthy habits. My career was doing gangbusters, but my personal health had gone into the crapper. Simply stated, achieving work-life balance has been the major challenge of my 30's.

I am proud to tell you that as of this morning I am over a month nicotine-free, and I am still hovering around 190lbs (I was down to about 175lb before I quit the cigs). My BMI is at the edge of "overweight"- and I'll tell you something- its totally correct. To have a BF of 15% or so, I'd expect I need to weigh around 160lbs, which means I still have 30 to go.

Now- I'm not here to defend Fat People Hate. First of all, the word "hate" is right there, so I'm pretty sure if Reddit were hosted in the EU that name would be prevented by law (again-different places have different laws- don't confuse the legalities of freedom of speech with the philosophical questions behind those laws). I think it was pretty obviously a mean-spirited sub, and I'm not proud to tell you that I poked around in there on a few occasions on my recent weight loss journey. And if you check my history, you will see I was a "lurker". I never posted anything, I never commented. I was very much "on the fence" about it.

My goal is to be a better Josh, a better me. Not a bully, not better than you- a better me. And to be honest, "Fat People Hate" just never really sat right with me, and so, I never joined or participated- although I was well aware of it.

I want to share some facts, because I like facts, and I believe the truth will set you free. Besides, I've already completely screwed my schedule for the morning, so I may as well keep ranting into the Internet, just in case someone is listening.

1. FPH did not allow its users to link to other parts of reddit- nearly everything I ever saw submitted was a screenshot. They did not encourage "brigading" or interfering with other subreddits. I never intended to get involved in this debate; I'm not a member of FPH, but as an occasional lurker, I know this to be factually untrue. I don't like being lied to.

2. FPH posted a public picture of the people being IMGUR in their sidebar. The image was public. No personal details were included in that picture. No "doxxing" took place as far as I can tell. Again, I never intended to get involved in this debate; I'm not a member of FPH, but as an occasional lurker, I know this to be factually untrue. And I really don't like being lied to.

3. FPH was mean spirited, full of bullies and self-loathing fat people. I know this because I was one of them. I'm still very torn here. I feel guilty for having been motivated by it. Furthermore, it made me aware of things like "HAES" which I simply would never have been exposed to otherwise.

So now that "I'm out" as a self-loathing fatty, let me share some more facts:

1. Quitting smoking, and quitting ice cream, are both extremely hard to do

2. BOTH involve chemical addiction. Sugar is a serious drug; just because they push it on kids doesn't mean its safe.

3. As a society we have agreed that the health consequences of smoking outweigh the issue of "smoker freedom". If I argue I have a "right to smoke" in your favorite restaurant, you would find that laughable. If I was to exhale a single puff, I'd be tossed out on my ear (rightfully so). No one is arguing for "smoker acceptance". I'm not claiming that "real men have tar filled lungs". Anyone who did would be labeled insane.

4. We are quickly approaching the point of no return- the point where more of us are obese than not obese. The point at which the dystopian vision of WALL-E becomes a reality.

5. People smoke for all sorts of reasons; stress, to cope with pain, to fill time, due to tradition, and ritual, and routine, and temptation, and the power of marketing, and whim.

6. People eat for all sorts of reasons; stress, to cope with pain, to fill time, due to tradition, and ritual, and routine, and temptation, and the power of marketing, and whim.

7. WE ARE THE AUTHORS OF OUR STORY

8. WE WILL DECIDE HOW THAT STORY WILL END

9. We can choose to be victims in our story, but I choose to be the hero instead. All of my power in this life is contained within that simple choice.

10. It is quite possible to lose 50 pounds, and quite possible to quit smoking. Its not easy, but it's quite possible. And let's cut the bullshit here- this is simply science. Track what you eat, track your exercise- be honest with yourself and let the data guide you, and you WILL LOSE WEIGHT. I promise you that- I'm walking evidence of that.

Holy shit- what a rant. Ok, I'll shut up now.

tl;dr- Freedom of speech rules; addiction to cigarettes or food can be overcome via willpower. Don't be a victim; be a hero. Be a better you.

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EDIT 2 - June 12 @ 7:42 am - Is there anything worse than a guy who quits but then won't leave? Probably not. Needless to say, I am completely blown away by the response to this post.

Many of you have expressed interest in these koans, and so, I am trying to setup a new home for us here:

https://voat.co/v/koans/

However, due to the latest "mass exodus" the voat servers are still completely overwhelmed, so it may require some patience before it loads for you. Please note: moving forward, this is a small community focused on koan study; I normally try to keep my personal politics and opinions out of it.