So...I feel like I'm probably well qualified to discuss this. I mean, I've actually been a poster on r/antiwork for longer than this blog has existed. And Doreen has been around that sub from the beginning, to my knowledge.
But, as we know, recent events have forced her out. She went on fox news, the backlash was bad, the posters claimed she didn't speak for them, and she was pressured into resigning control of the sub. Now I'm going to look at whether I think her resigning was the right decision. And, to give you a TLDR answer, I'm going to say no....but yes. The reasoning was bad, but given certain circumstances that have come to light, I think resigning was for the better.
Should she have resigned over the fox news interview? No
So...let's not sugar coat it, the interview was a disaster. It not only embarrassed Doreen, but it did make the sub bad. However, let's be honest. As someone who also has anti work views, it seemed quite clear given the nature of the interview, the big problem, in my mind, was that the interview was a trap. Doreen's appearance, nervousness, and messy room did not do her any favors, but the interview's primary purpose was to ask leading questions without giving the interviewee time to answer them properly, and then switching topics to keep the pressure on. Given anti work ideas are complex, and require a lot of explaining (you literally could have an entire philosophy class on the subject, ya know, like that which Doreen wants to teach, and in a sense Karl Widerquist currently IS teaching), being able to go on and given a 2 minute interview on fox news is going to be difficult. They are, by nature, difficult to explain in such an environment, and it was a tactical mistake to go on. Still, I don't think this is worthy of forcing her off the sub for.
Is she too extreme for the sub? No
Part of the reason why she resigned wasn't just because of a bad interview, but because she was deemed a poor representative of the movement. But I have a different take. In a sense, Doreen IS the movement. Doreen has been on that sub from the beginning, and has constantly created content for it. She was one of the ones who put together the side bar. Heck, she actually compiled a book of anti work reading material that I am currently reading. And she lives her ideals. Some people might think it's pathetic she walks dogs for 20 hours a week and wants to work less, but I see her as living her dream. After all, people who are hardcore anti work are not going to want to pursue careers. And while people like that aren't the best representatives to go on fox news, given how they're gonna circlejerk about work, there's nothing wrong with her perspective. it isn't gonna be popular, but it's legitimate.
The problem is that the user base of the sub is too moderate. They clearly have not taken it upon themselves to read any of the material presented, and the sub became coopted by "workers" who simply wanted a fair shake at work, without questioning the concept at all. So these newcomers, most of whom joined the sub in the past 2 years, scream that she doesn't represent them, but she actually is a representative of the true anti work movement. The problem is, the popular masses who joined the sub aren't really anti work, and they are quite frankly horrified that someone who actually is would dare represent the movement.
So now there's calls to moderate the sub, and given that the user base is succumbing to popular pressure, I fear that the movement might be coopted. Should she have been firmer in maintaining her position? Sure, but it depends on how. I would've just told the user base to screw off and left it at that. I would've been like, if you're not really anti work, why are you on the anti work sub? I'd happily let people leave and join r/workreform if it meant maintaining the ideological consistency of the movement. There's been a lot of tension there between the old timers, most of whom are anarchists, and the newcomers, most of whom were liberal. I was caught in between the two, being more liberal than most old timers, but more anti work than the newcomers. I would've just let people self select themselves off the sub. However, that's not what happened.
Did Doreen abuse her power?
So...Doreen responded in the most immature way possible. She started banning people criticizing her. Some deserved it, as some people were truly nasty, but a lot of them...didn't. Like, i'm not one for purging people who I disagree with. I might tell them to screw off and block them, but unless they're bad faith trolls, I wouldn't even bother with banning people.
Eventually they took a more responsible action, they shut the sub down for a day as they let everyone cool off a bit. And by the time it reopened, things change. r/workreform took off. And even I shifted my opinion, originally being in the "yeah Doreen bombed that" to "no wait, no, we shouldn't be moderating the sub's mission due to popular demand, the normies can screw off if they don't like it." But, Doreen stepped down, and another moderator who was an unemployed anarchist was forced out too.
I didn't like these changes. Why should people who actually oppose work and try to live out their ideals in reality by...not working, not be leaders in the sub? Is no place safe from obsessive jobism (another "Doreen" term, actually, i got it from her website back in 2014), not even r/antiwork? if you cant express these views on r/antiwork, where can you express them? The future of the sub remains unclear, but I'm gonna be honest, i don't like this direction.
Still, did she abuse her power in the last moments of the sub being up before it shut down? Yes. Should she be removed from that? Arguably yes. I don't agree with the exact reasons they removed her, but removing her for that was a good idea. No one should abuse power in the sub. Period.
What about these sexual assault allegations?
So, in light of this, some sexual assault allegations about Doreen have come to light, including a long apology about it on facebook, which is cringey to say the least. I'll warn you, adult topics are discussed in the post, and it might trigger some, so you have been warned, this is NSFW, but you can read her post on it here. It's very cringey. And...I'm gonna be brutally honest. People have been me tooed out of movements for far less. And I would say if she should've been removed for anything, it's not botching a fox news interview, it's this. So yes, maybe she should have been removed.
Conclusion: right outcome, wrong reasoning
So yeah, I've come to the conclusion Doreen definitely should've been removed from her position as moderator. But...the wrong reasoning was applied. I dont care what a bunch of normies who use r/antiwork to crap post about their crappy labor conditions actually think about someone who actually wants to abolish work. It's none of their business, and if they don't like the direction of the sub, they should've left. The whole point of the sub was to be anti work, and while I can understand how a lot of casuals who had misconceptions about the movement due to not educating themselves, I dont think Doreen should've caved to them.
However, at the same time, she kind of abused her power in lashing out against her critics, and she is also coming under fire for sexual assault allegations. Given those facts, yeah, she should resign.
It has nothing to do with her ideals. Make no mistake, I think Doreen is very intelligent, and while I don't always see eye to eye with her on subjects like say, anarchism, I do think we need voices like hers in the movement. And I think a lot of the hate and vitriol against her is illegitimate. Who cares what a bunch of work worshipping right wingers think? Screw them. And that includes the "moderates" who just want "work reform" too. Anti work has always been about being against work as a concept. We might not agree on how, I'm one of those moderate basic income supporters who has a more karl widerquist approach to the concept, but at least I do believe we should work less and seek to abolish the concept in the long term. If you're just there to talk about wages and less overtime and more humane overlords, well, while "anti work" should spend time on that, that isn't the extent of our ambitions. And I think on that front Doreen did nothing wrong...except go on fox news, being the bad and unprepared public speaker that she was.
At the same time...Doreen's behavior as of late...is questionable. And I don't think that banning people for criticizing her should be tolerated, nor should sexual assault allegations that she seemingly admitted to in a cringey way.
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