I found MMM and the forums in 2013, I believe. I remember being rather surprised to find people with a car hobby, or a flying hobby, or a horse hobby, or a skydiving hobby (etc) on here, even at that time. Sure, maybe many of them were impressively frugal in their day-to-day lives to afford the hobby, perhaps even alongside a hefty savings rate, but it would be hard to argue that their spending and/or their ecological footprint could not be further lowered by eliminating these luxuries. And yet, if this is what makes their life worth living, what gets them up every morning, who are any of us to tell them it's stupid and wasteful? What if someone said that whatever made your heart leap with joy was stupid and wasteful? The fact is, most people have something they spend on that brings them great joy, which is a huge splurge/luxury if you ask someone else. And I suspect those that actually don't might have a really disordered attitude about spending in some way...
Like, it's totally cool by me if someone wants to live in a van to save money or whatever. Just don't try to push that on others like it's the only reasonable way to live and anyone who does differently is a dolt. Also like working is The Very Worst Thing Ever and it's incomprehensible how anyone would want to do it for any length of time...I'd rather work than live in a box...I mean van...personally. And as long as I'm working, or have money in the bank, I'll consider myself able to afford sour cream for my tacos even if it's NOT on sale and costs $.50 more than the last tub, and as many pieces of fruit as I (or SO, or our guests, or hypothetical future kids) can eat. That's just how extravagant I am. Yeah. Punch me. :P
Speaking of, I think Noodle makes a good point about the format of the rhetoric.
... the blog started in 2011, when a lot of people were still feeling the after-effects of the 2008-2009 economic downturn. With six years of economic improvement, people feel less at the mercy of their employers and less motivated to pursue FIRE at all costs. Second, I think that the MMM exaggerated-for-effect rhetoric lands differently than it did six years ago. "Face-punching" used to be a silly way to make a point, and now, when so many people feel concerned about the lack of civility in the United States, it doesn't feel as light-hearted.
I also suspect that a larger community in general is less amenable to more jocular interaction (more opportunities for it to get misinterpreted, people don't know each other well enough to put jokingly-offensive statements in context).
I'm here for the big ideas: money as freedom, reducing major expenses (like housing and transport), reducing consumption and minor expenses, living mindfully, finding other/different sources of joy, DIY. And while I don't have a strong opinion on the tone/attitude issue, I have seen from others that they were put off by the "hard core" approach, and perhaps afraid to post/ask for advice. It's only a joke if both parties are laughing, and a lot of people weren't laughing. I don't think that's a healthy atmosphere to create. And if the new atmosphere means people will argue about the merits of a $200 blender, perhaps lump-free smoothies are what make their life worth living? Or they make so much that $200 is minutiae in their book. I've no idea; I don't make that many smoothies, I didn't read the thread, and I have no intention to because there are plenty of more interesting discussions I can peruse when/if I want to...