Update drift.md

psf/drift.md

@@ -8,9 +8,10 @@ seeming, at times, to egg each other on in a race to the bottom.
 
 Drift is incremental, and not always monotonic. And sometimes it's "secret", not visible to the public.
 
-Following are some examples. It will probably grow over time. Here are links to more recent entries:
+Following are some examples. It will probably grow over time. Here are links to more recent entries:f
 
-- [Inward drift](#inner) 2025-10-18 Sat
+- [Drift to reading silence as approval 2025-10-19 Sun](#silence)
+- [Inward drift 2025-10-18 Sat](#inner)
 
 #### Early but telling drift
 
@@ -109,14 +110,25 @@ Does this really need to be spelled out? There is no possible "constructive crit
 
 That's hardly unique. One of the most frequent frustrations I hear is from people baffled by inconsistent treatment of various people. People praising the PSF do seem to get a lot more slack than people questioning it [^me]. And I've noted for years that when there's some plausible "political" slant to a disastrous thread that gets someone suspended, the excesses of the "left wing" side are overlooked. Which sometimes works to my favor, although I wish it wouldn't (for example, I strongly condemned the Trump administration's ICE actions preceding PyCon 2025). That is, political speech is actually welcome - but provided it's echoing the PSF power players' politics. There's little tolerance of political speech beyond that.
 
+[^me]: I seem to be an exception for now. I couldn't be plainer about my loss of trust.
+
 Ironically, what I wrote about "[ICE actions](https://discuss.python.org/t/pycon-us-2025-travel-guidance/85196/21)" I could just as well have said about the PSF - nobody seemed to notice that :wink::
 
 
 > But if people with power are determined to “make an example” of you, you’re hosed. Have no expectations of fair play, due process, or justice. You’re a disposable means to their political goals. They don’t care about you at all, or about facts. Zealots are fixated on their abstract idea of “a greater good” to the exclusion of all else (a mix of self-righteous conviction, cynical power-grabbing, and plain love of bullying). You may prevail in the end if there’s also a functioning legal system (which the US government still has, for now, at least partially so), but it may take years.
 
 Although, no, "functioning legal system" doesn't apply to the PSF.
 
+<a id="silence"></a>
+#### Drift to reading silence as approval
 
+Not much to say here. The more dissent is suppressed on d.p.o., the less dissent is visible. That doesn't mean the community is harmonious.
 
+> “When we avoid hard conversations, we’re not keeping the peace. We’re just keeping the tension.” - Unknown
+
+As a person just wrote to me (they don't want their identity known, so I won't say more), after their own "unpleasant" experiences:
+
+>  ... I'm still autistic, so I will always have trouble judging how my words will make others feel, so it increasingly feels like I'm walking on egg shells [on d.p.o.] which has caused me to greatly reduce my interactions.
+
+If would be fair to counter that someone's personal bad experiences with moderation don't imply dissent is being suppressed, but it so happens that this person does dissent - but fears to express it in public. In fact that pattern is common, from all I've seen. "Chilling effect" inhibits all expression.
 
-[^me]: I seem to be an exception for now. I couldn't be plainer about my loss of trust.