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Detox week may be a good time to focus on non-political positions and views to problems like mass-job displacement. Are there solutions to these problems that d

Detox week may be a good time to focus on non-political positions and views to problems like mass-job displacement. Are there solutions to these problems that don't fit neatly into a political ideology? Are there solutions that don't require government policy? If the non-political solution antibody makes itself a permanent resident of the HN community as a result of detox week, I know I'd be pleased.

icebraining 10y ago
There's no non-political solution to a social problem. It's a contradiction in terms. "Non-political" just means "aligned with the political status quo". The idea that major social ills can be solved with no governmental intervention is itself very political.
- weberc2 10y ago
  There seem to be multiple meanings to "political"; one in a broad sense (things pertaining to social governance) and a specific ideological axis along which certain general topics become polarized. The former is fine, the latter is damaging (at least in high concentrations or some such).
  - dragonwriter 10y ago
    The appearance of a single overwhelmingly-dominant ideological axis is an artifact certain electoral systems produce in the societies that host them. The fewer axes of variation the electoral system supports, the fewer end up significant in discourse in the society. The "broad" definition is the one in most dictionaries; the narrow one you suggest seems to be the overlap of partisan tribalism with a society with a single overwhelming axis for the reason described above. In any case, simple utterances of tribalism are already clearly off-topic on HN, whether they are centered on political ideology or not, so clearly an experiment of the type here must be targeting something broader (though apparently also narrower than the dictionary definition of poltiics.)
    - weberc2 10y ago
      > In any case, simple utterances of tribalism are already clearly off-topic on HN, whether they are centered on political ideology or not, so clearly an experiment of the type here must be targeting something broader (though apparently also narrower than the dictionary definition of poltiics.) I think the better explanation is that a lot of tribalism is slipping through the filter, so the filter is becoming more strict for a time.
- ant6n 10y ago
  '"Non-political" just means "aligned with the political status quo"' Is this a quote with a source? It's genius.
  - icebraining 10y ago
    Not directly, but it's inspired by this excerpt of Red Mars: https://gist.github.com/andreparames/37844c65d918c89cce7d76cda456474e https://gist.github.com/andreparames/37844c65d918c89cce7d76c... (Unsurprisingly, Arkady is my favorite character.)
Xylakant 10y ago
Since mass job displacement is a problem that gravely affects our society, the answer is a political one - even if the answer is "no government policy" The view that government shouldn't intervene in itself is a political view. There's no escape from political views unless you want to discuss mere theoretical algorithms that have no applications at all in real life.
madaxe_again 10y ago
How on earth can one talk about labour displacement without involving political solutions? You could say "purely economic" or "purely technical" solutions only need apply - but by doing so you are taking an ideological stance, which is political.

icebraining 10y ago

There's no non-political solution to a social problem. It's a contradiction in terms. "Non-political" just means "aligned with the political status quo". The idea that major social ills can be solved with no governmental intervention is itself very political.

weberc2 10y ago
There seem to be multiple meanings to "political"; one in a broad sense (things pertaining to social governance) and a specific ideological axis along which certain general topics become polarized. The former is fine, the latter is damaging (at least in high concentrations or some such).
- dragonwriter 10y ago
  The appearance of a single overwhelmingly-dominant ideological axis is an artifact certain electoral systems produce in the societies that host them. The fewer axes of variation the electoral system supports, the fewer end up significant in discourse in the society. The "broad" definition is the one in most dictionaries; the narrow one you suggest seems to be the overlap of partisan tribalism with a society with a single overwhelming axis for the reason described above. In any case, simple utterances of tribalism are already clearly off-topic on HN, whether they are centered on political ideology or not, so clearly an experiment of the type here must be targeting something broader (though apparently also narrower than the dictionary definition of poltiics.)
  - weberc2 10y ago
    > In any case, simple utterances of tribalism are already clearly off-topic on HN, whether they are centered on political ideology or not, so clearly an experiment of the type here must be targeting something broader (though apparently also narrower than the dictionary definition of poltiics.) I think the better explanation is that a lot of tribalism is slipping through the filter, so the filter is becoming more strict for a time.
ant6n 10y ago
'"Non-political" just means "aligned with the political status quo"' Is this a quote with a source? It's genius.
- icebraining 10y ago
  Not directly, but it's inspired by this excerpt of Red Mars: https://gist.github.com/andreparames/37844c65d918c89cce7d76cda456474e https://gist.github.com/andreparames/37844c65d918c89cce7d76c... (Unsurprisingly, Arkady is my favorite character.)

Xylakant 10y ago

Since mass job displacement is a problem that gravely affects our society, the answer is a political one - even if the answer is "no government policy" The view that government shouldn't intervene in itself is a political view. There's no escape from political views unless you want to discuss mere theoretical algorithms that have no applications at all in real life.

madaxe_again 10y ago

How on earth can one talk about labour displacement without involving political solutions? You could say "purely economic" or "purely technical" solutions only need apply - but by doing so you are taking an ideological stance, which is political.