I wonder how all the various subreddits will work without their moderators. If moderators stop doing their jobs I have a feeling many subreddits will devolve into chaos - spam, off topic posts, crazy people posting the most vile and repulsive shit, … etc.
If they enable the subreddits without moderation, they'll die very soon. They really need moderation and users often don't realise how much crap they're protected from until it's too late.
I suspect that would be a far more effective protest, though if successful it may well kill the subreddits. The mods are trying to have their cake and eat it too: make a 'principled stance' without risk to their subreddits. That won't work.
