Why was my question on politics SE completely rewritten?

Question

I asked this (highly edited) question on politics SE. The original question asked about the political and social effects of an economic collapse in the Middle East. I was asking it in reference to a book I'm writing, and considered putting on the Worldbuilding SE, but because it asks about realistic political effects, I decided to put it on Politics SE instead.

After my question was downvoted for being "too speculative" and "asking for predictions of future events" (which I hear), I rephrased it to ask more specifically about a plausible mechanism that would lead to social/political anarchy in the Middle East, following a collapse of the crude oil economy. I thought this met the guidelines for asking a question on SE. I've participated in other SE forums and this is always the format I've used for asking questions.

It's possible Politics SE works differently. I'm not asking about how my question could have been rephrased, because my question was not so much rephrased as overhauled. Someone edited it so much that it no longer resembles the original in any shape or form, and moreover, answers to this question would not even satisfy my original request.

I'm not opposed to constructive criticism, but I am opposed to someone completely making over another's work without their approval. If the question does not meet politics SE's guidelines, leave a comment. Still doesn't fit? Close it. From my experience, the editing privilege is meant for tweaking the format of a question or correcting spelling and grammar, not rewriting a post.

In any case, I would have migrated my question to the Worldbuilding SE, but unfortunately can't because it's been completely remodeled. Any explanation as to why this is allowed, or advice as to how I can retrieve my original question, would be appreciated.

Update: I found the original version of my question here. Why this moderator wrote that they "rewrote some parts for better clarity" is beyond me.

Answer 1

I guess I am the one you are referring to who "edited it so much that it no longer resembles the original in any shape or form". That is somewhat true. The intention was ofcourse, to be helpful.

As you noticed, many didn't find your question suitable here (the most cited reason was the answer would be opinion based, which is not encouraged here), and I agree. So the solution was to remove the elements in your question that would generate only opinions. But that wasn't really possible, because the gist of your question was not asking us for political facts but creative thinking in political science :

[What could be] a plausible mechanism that would lead to social/political anarchy in the Middle East, following a collapse of the crude oil economy.

One of the comment though, made a very good suggestion (which said something like) - instead of asking us to fantasise why don't you research similar political events that have already happened, and then use elements of them creatively and apply it to your middle east storyline?

That was the major reasoning behind my rewrite of your question (which basically gave an example of a past event of how one nation had manipulated oil prices to cause downfall of another, and asked for similar historical examples). Sure, it wasn't exactly what you wanted. But it would have been accepted here, and the answers would have been helpful to you.

(If you don't understand how that would have been helpful to you, then I do have to point out that it indicates laziness in not wanting to do some research while expecting us to write out the gist of your plot for you - and no, posting a question here is not research unless your question shares how your research has been unable to satisfy your doubts).

But ofcourse, you are well-within your right to not accept any changes and revert to your original version. I too have done it when I felt that someone had changed my question poorly.

Also:

From my experience, the editing privilege is meant for tweaking the format of a question or correcting spelling and grammar, not rewriting a post.

No, you are mistaken here. In fact, as a reviewer (which I am) or a moderator, we are given the option to edit post with the instructions to rewrite it (if necessary) to make it relevant and suitable for the SE.

All that said, I hope this answers your question (even if you aren't entirely happy with the reasoning behind it).