And that's an excuse for this rampant idiocy? Because last I heard the mature approach would be to provide constructive criticism, wait and see what happens, and then simply leave if the outcome is unbearable and the feedback is ignored. I voiced my opinion to them and if they do nothing to alleviate my concerns I'll simply stop using the site.

This site has been something special to a number of readers and posters here, and seeing the place go down in flames like Digg did when they ignored their users' feedback is a highly suboptimal emotional experience.

all without turning the whole place into a fucking kindergarten.

Saying that turns the place into the kindergarten you wanted to avoid.