The Silly/Illegal Proposals Thread in the WA forum has served its purpose.
1. There is no longer the need for the thread as when it was first started
The thread originated ten years ago. Back then, vastly more proposals were being submitted every day; it was not uncommon to have double digits of pages of proposals. I cannot remember the last time there were even double digits of proposals, let alone pages. The change is probably related to splitting the WA page: it means the proposal submission is one link deeper, and thus cuts out a lot of random clickers.
2. Discussing specific proposals in dedicated threads is now possible
The forum is also much, much slower now. There are only a few posts every day; other than Technical or Got Issues, it's probably the slowest forum on the site. Threads often take a week to cycle off the front page. Having proposals posted under separate threads if there were a special need to discuss them would not spam up the forum or overwhelm other content.
3. There is little to no moderator feedback
This isn't a complaint: merely an observation. We now rarely if ever hear back as to why proposals were removed, or not removed, after they have been reported. This makes the thread not very useful as a learning tool (it is often advertised as a way of learning about proposal rules) because the contents of the thread may not bear much relation to moderator actions. Again, not a complaint: simply the way things are.
4. Posts to the thread are low quality
Virtually every proposal is dismissed as "bloody stupid", which was originally a rule only applied in rare, selective instances of something so truly silly it was beyond comprehension. Now, even legitimate political opinions, such as on healthcare, gun control, or disarmament, are quite often dismissed on these grounds. Yes, obviously conservatives think liberals' opinions are stupid, and environmental sceptics think extreme environmentalists are stupid, and so on: but that doesn't serve any purpose given administration of the proposal rules is meant to be (and I truly believe is!) politically non-partisan.
5. The thread offers no value to proposal authors
There is no penalty when proposals are reported on grounds that are incorrect or when reporters misread or misinterpret proposals. It seems to be the position of many that literally any proposal submitted to the queue is automatically silly/stupid simply for existing, especially if it doesn't have a drafting thread previously or if they personally disagree with it. That is not a useful function for a thread, because proposal authors can learn very little if they see their proposals reported there. There could be a serious problem with their proposal. There could be no problem at all.
Obviously, the thread has a lot of history and I can't imagine this argument being very popular, but here goes: the thread should be sent to the Archives, either now or when it reaches 500 pages (it's on 393), and the forum rules should permit players to, if they see a proposal they particularly want to discuss that doesn't have a drafting thread attached, cross-post it to the WA forum.
I welcome any comment and will accept without appeal any ruling on the matter.
Thank you.
For reference: this is the thread's original incarnation, for comparison purposes.
