I understand we're you're coming from but I think that's a wrong way to look at it. The villages and towns rarely are equal in the face of front-line activities - some offer great defense opportunities and can be held for months. Most are strategically unimportant and their freedom is reclaimed by battles fought in other locations. History books are full of small town names that have witnessed grand battles and sometimes a victory over a small patch of land can translate to a much greater victory later on.
They will try to recruit new mods from the subscribers or find them elsewhere. I agree it's going to be ugly and prolonged and will likely lead to a painful death of the communities.
I have to genuinely ask - who is the liberal in this context? People are leaving reddit because it's encouraging them to do it, simple as that.