7,082,444 users blocked

Another reason people don't contribute is because they are caught in "range blocks". There are currently 7,082,444 IP addresses blocked in "range blocks" on en:wiki. Range blocks are used to stop vandals that have dynamic IP addresses and to stop proxies. Even though the policy states "make them as brief as possible" many of them are set for 5 years and many are set to never expire (not even after 100 years). Refer to Help:Range blocks to understand how large these range blocks are.

One more note, once an IP range is labelled as a "proxy" it is never looked at again. All unblock requests from these addresses are ignored because of the "proxy" label. Some of these range blocks are more than 7 years old and certainly don't have proxies or vandals any more.

It would be nice if the WMF would step in here and have these range blocks reviewed. 7,082,444 seems rather excessive to me.

The entire IPv6 network is blocked on many projects.

Which projects? And is there a reason why?

I don't have a comprehensive list across all projects, but I have found IPv6 gateways extensively blocked on all the major English language projects, including Wikipedia, Meta, and Wikiversity. I am unable to fathom the reasons why there are so many rangeblocks across so many projects.

Ummm, to protect themselves from your use of IPv6 gateways? Here's a really difficult concept for you to digest Moulton: they don't want you here. Chew on that for a while.

Well, it's certainly of paramount importance to protect all WMF sites from hosting educational content on such verboten topics as Managerial Ethics, Due Process, Human and Civil Rights, Scientific Hypothesis Testing, Evidence-Based Reasoning, and NewYorkBrad's Guiding Principles for Wikimedia Functionaries.

Range blocks should be reviewed much more actively. Better tools may help here. But Moulton, despite your good intentions, please understand that you are one of the editors who drives others away.

I am attempting to drive away the toxic Cluster B Control Phreaks who have transformed an educational enterprise into a lame clone of Zynga's Mafia Wars in which good faith editors are routinely kiboshed by an adolescent cadre of Keystone Kops with tin badges and toy banhammers.

Let them go play World of Warcraft or Rift or one of the free Zynga games on Facebook.