Opinion: The Moderation Panel Industrial Complex Is Not Trying to Solve Anything Before Dessert

The panel is the preferred furniture of delayed seriousness. It gathers respectable people under soft lighting and creates the impression that important forces are now in contact, which can feel satisfyingly adjacent to action without becoming action itself.

This format is cherished because it distributes responsibility evenly enough that nobody has to carry it home. The moderator keeps the room moving. The participants offer perspective. The audience receives insight and exits before the bill for change arrives.

Panels have their place. They simply should not be mistaken for repair work just because the water glasses were handled professionally.