Why does this pattern come up so often? Something is promoted ignoring the lessons of the past and claiming not to have those problems, then it's discovered that it does have those problems and that ostriching didn't solve them (surprise) and that ostriching made it even worse than if they'd left a TODO placeholder
There is some issues with "boomers" and "toxic culture". Ham radio can be pretty toxic -- but you have to find the groups that have the knowledge but don't have the toxicity. There is a stigma to being a Ham these days -- often well deserved I think. You can find lots of youtube videos of toxic hams on the air. Or you know facebook forums.
But those people aren't the experts typically. The experts have their own community, friendships, etc. They'll be super nice, and they might speak up, but they expect to have polite conversation. And if the forum is a shit show, they'll take their expertise elsewhere.