It's my opinion that it may have a lot to do with this "rich people need to be punished" attitude we are seeing today in this country. Because you have money, people automatically assume you have power (which you might or might not) and this power can have a lot of influence.
That's just a load of horse manure. The one thing I can say about Brad is that you are who you are. I wonder sometimes why you gamble by speaking your mind but I think that is one the reasons I really like this site. You take risks in a forum that you can't just reach in and take it back.
I haven't been on much in a while but I lurk from time to time. The last few times I have been here, it's just been (pardon) more of the same. I think I have been a member long enough to see patterns and I just don't recall seeing this sort of downturn in quantity/quality.
I miss some of the older more prolific users. They certainly weren't what brought me here (you can chalk that up to good Google search placements for the word blog) but they are what kept me coming back.
I would be really interested in the demographic information pre and post downturn. My guess is the average age dropped and that makes a big difference to me. It becomes increasingly difficult to debate with people who while informed, lack the time earned experience to express their own unique view.
I would love to see resurgence in the JU population. This is such an interesting online community. I have always really enjoyed following people like Mason while he travels around, and Tova as she expands her already amazing horizon. It's fun to watch people progress. And like a car wreck, sometimes its fun to watch them self destruct.
There were points in time that probably precipitated the downturn but while I have my own opinions I don't think they are relevant to this discussion. For now I'll probably log out and lurk some more