9

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.

11
  • 5
    If you disagree with an edit you can roll it back. I've rolled back the edit made by user sfxedit (who is not a moderator, nor am I) based on your comment and post here.
    – James K
    Dec 29, 2022 at 22:42
  • 2
    You are still free to "migrate" to World building. Just copy and paste, then delete your Politics question.
    – James K
    Dec 29, 2022 at 22:43
  • Thanks. Appreciated. Dec 29, 2022 at 22:43
  • Posibly a moderator can migrate it.
    – convert
    Dec 29, 2022 at 22:44
  • Why bother a mod? The OP can do it themself.
    – James K
    Dec 29, 2022 at 22:46
  • Migrated. I will delete it here. Thank you all for your help. Dec 29, 2022 at 22:50
  • 1
    @James K Deleting is not good and can count against your, while migration should not have such cosequences.
    – convert
    Dec 29, 2022 at 22:52
  • Deleting is fine, deleting a closed post with no answers will happen anyway in the fullness of time. Where do you get the idea that "deleting is not good"? Let us not encourage mod-migration, it is an act of last resort.
    – James K
    Dec 29, 2022 at 22:59
  • 1
    @James K Read somewhere that deleted posts count against you. Specialy deleted question count towords question ban.
    – convert
    Dec 29, 2022 at 23:02
  • 1
    Perhaps, if you are creating and deleting a question every other day... not the case here.
    – James K
    Dec 29, 2022 at 23:19
  • @James K OK useful thing to know.
    – convert
    Dec 30, 2022 at 11:59

1 Answer 1

8

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).

3
  • 4
    Actually this did address a lot of my concerns. I appreciate that. In all honesty, I'm used to the Worldbuilding SE where every question asks viewers to fantasize, so there is more leniency with opinion-based questions. Perhaps I should have asked for straight facts. I still don't appreciate that the question was rewritten, but I could appreciate the intention behind it. Jan 1 at 0:13
  • Ironically, I did find the comments helpful as one of my concerns was whether it would be realistic for an economic crisis caused by crude oil to lead to total anarchy in the mideast. The responses seemed to say it was so that was useful. Jan 1 at 0:15
  • 2
    @TheresaKay Yeah, most SEs only allow you to seek facts and do not encourage opinions. You should explore the oil gluts for your plot. The economies of most of the oil rich country in the middle-east are heavily dependent on selling oil and gas, and thus their economy suffer when this is somehow manipulated. I also recommend the book Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet which really highlights the tribal mentality still present in ME.
    – sfxedit
    Jan 1 at 20:05

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .