In this case, I agree fully. I was fed up arguing with someone who insists on being a downer at every turn & who recognizes no good-side, no upside, who denied every contribution blanketly. That doesn't excuse. Perhaps that kind of outburst does merit a lifetime ban forever & ever, but in my opinion, issuing a lifetime ban for this sort of thing is grossly immoral & radically intolerant. Yes, it is a mistake, yes it should be punished. But to exercise the death penalty in this case speaks extremely ill of moderation & process on the internet, not in any way unique to Hacker News, but in a manner we see pervasively & which is extremely damaging to us all.
I think you should re-assess your policies & system. I rarely even notice that my posts have been flagged. Moderation happens invisibly. I would like to see a way to view my flagged posts, so I can understand what is happening to my content. And so I can reflect better. Because right now, you've warning me that I've been warned before, but that does not process. Simply raising the fact that moderation has occurred is important, first step to making this moderation into feedback.
Second, this is the only time I can remember having any feedback to inform me. I appreciate that I was offered a grant here, that I did get feedback. My post on Larry Wall being made into fiat dictator of social media moderation was incredibly on target & hilarious, yet flagged. Ok? I don't get it.
But most of all, this threat to be banned: I find it grossly immoral that the threat of punishment online is forever. People should get banned for months, years, but banning people forever is absurd, vindictive, & cruel. I think you & all sites should seek a system that works for justice, to correct problems, to encourage behavior. This threat of being banned causes me pause, and I knew I was breaking the rules even without having read them in decades, but it also is just so disgusting, so vile, makes me so sad to be here. Living under the threat of the guillotine, feeling like the punishment is radically out of line, that screwing up is unforgivable: this is cruelty that makes me radically aware that these rules, they are judged by fiat & there is no system or process for enforcement, that I contribute here only under the pleasure of ya'll & that ya'll offer me nothing of my own. There should be a system for justice, because this threat feels unjust & it hurts.