| What you are forgetting is that donations are autocratic too, and popularity is the sum of each autocratic choice to visit here or go elsewhere.
If the tyrant upsets the community, the community abandons the tyrant.
So although it is true that the site is under control of Jason, his desire for it to be popular is incentive for him to yield to the desires of the community.
One can see this in taxation as well. Consider America's New England history. Taxation without representation was one of the major factors in the revolution.
An interesting thing about progressive taxation comes from the way unequal tax rates benefit a majority. You end up with strange behavior of <10% taxpayers supporting >90% of the government finances. This seems very unfair that such a burden is shouldered by such a minority, until you realize that the government must cater to these special taxpayers or else they will simply move to Dubai. Not only is catering necessary but doing so secretly is also necessary to prevent upsetting the vast majority, who can fire the elected officials at the next election. |