To enforce a respectable standard of quality, individual users must be granted the “contributor” role to post articles. (Anybody can post comments.)

“Standard of quality” does not entail a specific set of beliefs, but rather, the ability to articulate, defend, and build upon a thesis in a respectful and structured way. The intent is to garden a repository of discussions around a wide variety of topics, ranging from hyper-partisan political hot-takes to apolitical essays on issues that affect us all.

When you first make an account, you will start with the “user” role, which can comment, like, report, and subscribe. If you wish to be assigned the “contributor” role, drop an application in the comments of this post. Topics of interest and short writing samples are heavily encouraged as part of the application. We will strive to accept as many contributors as we can within our ability to foster a vibrant, polite community.