You just said it yourself—you retaliated. That’s the mistake. They have all the power by design, and nothing is going to change that. If you don’t like it, you are welcome to find somewhere else to make your point.

Being a Redditor is like being at boot camp—your only options are “thank you, sir, yes, sir, I understand, sir.” Any response that deviates from that will just make your situation worse—and that is exactly how it is intended to be.