I was going to (very incorrectly) point out you hadn't responded to the actual point of my post. But you did:

Who is this silent crowd who are now so terrified of volunteering to be a moderator, despite being active here since ITT started in mid-2005?

If your concern is that there may be people who feel like this (and, this is what you seem to be saying); wouldn't we be better letting them speak for themselves? Being too shy to stand up with their arms open is hardly a good quality in a wannabe-moderator.