We are enormously proud that Sufficient Velocity has grown into the vibrant and thriving global community that it is today. We intend to continue along the path that we conceived in April of 2014: to make Sufficient Velocity a welcoming, inclusive and open space, which encourages creativity, friendly discussion, and robust and honest debate.

Our mission is to balance our community values: celebrating and encouraging the artistic and intellectual expression of our members; ensuring the ability of our members to freely and productively express themselves; ensuring that the privacy and safety of our members is respected; ensuring that we have a community which is open and inclusive, without harassment or hate; and ensuring that our community is peaceful and law-abiding.

The most basic mechanism for establishing our values is our formal set of rules and policies. Our dedicated moderator staff attempt to ensure that this minimum standard of conduct for the forum as a whole is respected. But these rules are not a wall around the Staff, beyond which they cannot act; they are merely the lowest floor for what we expect from our users. We encourage, and we will act to ensure, that our values themselves are respected even where this requires actions that go beyond the rules set out here.

Yet history has demonstrated that the foremost safeguard against tyranny is not an armed citizenry. It is the existence of, and respect for, the rule of law and the concepts of good governance; and the systems of independent review that exist to protect those things.

That's why we believe that we have created something special on Sufficient Velocity. Our Community Council, made up of your representatives, can observe our actions and participate in policy-making and enforcement at every step of that process. And when the policy is made and the rules enforced, we have a process whereby independent Magistrates and the Council itself can review the application of that policy for fairness, consistency, and reasonableness.

Ultimately, Sufficient Velocity is like any other community. You have a choice: you can vote with your feet and with your voice. Your suggestions, whether communicated through the News and Management forum or through your Councillors will influence our values, our policies, and how we implement and enforce those things.

Your involvement is crucial to making Sufficient Velocity a place you want to be. No one can guarantee that you will get what you want; but you must be, and speak up for, the changes you want to see.