Thanks.  By a simple count across my three active periods since the introduction of the merit system, it took a total of not more than 310 days’ worth of real activity to achieve this:


The lucky merit landed on a post which took me way too long to write, edit, and fancily format.  It covers briefly (!) as practicable (!!) a relatively obscure book which draws East-West cultural comparisons, my agreements and disagreements with Solzhenitsyn, and the cultural relevance of ancestor-worship to posterity.  I did not realistically expect to be much lauded for that.  (Preview-page edit:  My prediction was a wee bit off the mark:  It received another merit whilst I was writing this!

I am only bragging about my crossing of the all-earned 2000 merit threshold to rub it in, for in the time since early January:

• I have had the opportunity to elaborate more about my opinions on controversial subjects.  (I did touch on such topics before, but perhaps nobody noticed.)  I would be far from the only one to have remarked that this can induce some people to be biased against meriting posts that they would otherwise deem meritorious.  As an advocate of free speech and freethinking, I have refused to stay strictly within the narrow confines of what can nowadays be called “popular”, or even “socially acceptable”.  The merit system does not affect my decision-making process as such; but it provides insight into the behaviour of others, both for better and for worse.
• At least one known merit source has publicly alleged that she has me ignore-listed.  (Oh, why do some idiots fantasize that that may bother me?)
• I have made very few posts in the technical forum, which has always been the most reliable place for me to earn merits.
• You, TMAN, seem not to be here to express your refined taste for my prolific fan art for a kitty-cat who is now nonexistent. :-(

Although my merit earning rate has slowed, and my merit/activity ratio will probably plunge after I start taking my retirement plans seriously, it does go to prove that thus far, at least, quality still trumps all else.