If you're incapable of trusting some sort of authority on this, why are you here? Go host your own community. Everyone else in the world is willing to make some sort of sacrifice on this front so their community is, in fact, a community, and not a pile of trash.

As for trust - I'm not really sure what trust has to do with it. I evaluate communities based on their content, and what I don't see is often just as important as what I do. If I like it, I'll stick around - if I don't, or if it changes, I'll leave. The community is operated by the people in charge of it, it's theirs by default. Do you visit people's houses and refuse to take your shoes off because they're the "authority"? Seems like an odd thing to get hung up over.

You said that you trust them to provide this "clear obvious value".

So, why do you trust them to do that?

I mean, that's our difference here in a nutshell.

So stop dicking around the bush and just tell me.

Tell me you've never used a platform without bot moderation without telling me you've never used a platform without bot moderation.