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"The unwarranted injection of politics into every single discussion is getting very, very tiring." Some folks won't be satisfied until everybody is clearly awa

"The unwarranted injection of politics into every single discussion is getting very, very tiring." Some folks won't be satisfied until everybody is clearly aware that they're deeply, DEEPLY unhappy with the 2016 election results. This will continue for another three years, at which point things will change to how Candidate X is so much better, and we'll hear about Candidate X in everything. If Candidate X loses the 2020 election, expect a repeat of the current situation. I'm sure there's a cicada analogy here somewhere.

grzm 10y ago
I don't think your parent's sentiment necessarily has anything to do with the results of the election. Even before Nov. 8 2016 there's been plenty of debate about how much politics should play a role in HN, even beyond what the guidelines. This is not the first time a member has mentioned wanting less politics. It's perfectly legitimate to want to be able to discuss articles without having politics added to it. The current submission makes no mention of politics in general or Trump in particular. Given how much discussion of politics is going on in other threads, it's understandable to want the bar to to drag it in to be higher. How much of what is being said is new?
- MrZongle2 10y ago
  I based my post off of this part of the parent comment: " And yet, as I write this, every single comment in this damn thread mentions him." And not only was that poster right, at the time it was written, it is a frigging epidemic everywhere right now. On HN, on Reddit, on every platform; if the topic at hand is not tightly focused and apolitical, somebody eventually will make a derogative Trump comment. Some of it is purely for humor. Some of it is pure snark. Some of it is virtue signalling. But almost all of it is noise, not signal.
  - Karunamon 10y ago
    What this thread has taught me is that fighting this trend, even on HN, is not worth the time. The haters are going to hate, and there's no point suggesting that maybe it's not a good place for it, lest you want your comments greyed. Trump uses Twitter, therefore any topic about Twitter is about Trump by proxy, or something.
  - anigbrowl 10y ago
    Have you considered that this is a reflection of the way Donald Trump communicates? He injects his opinions on subjects he patently knows nothing about into public discourse on a regular basis, relying on startlement more than substance - like a shock jock on the radio. The social, political and governmental power he now wields is immense. I have to keep an eye on his tiny tweets of terror because random shit he posts there has the potential to directly impact my life in the short term. This is precisely why lots of people were saying he should give up tweeting (at least on his personal account) once he took office, and rely on formal/official channels of communication for anything important. He has demonstrated a a preference for demonizing individuals and particular businesses and institutions, and where he leads, a mob of deplorables often follows. You complain about being tired of hearing/seeing people talking about Donald Trump all the time, so presumably you feel unable to ignore it. It seems not to have occurred to you that people who dislike Trump are even more sick of hearing about and from him. Imagine being a Mexican person and hearing yourself and your family described as 'rapists, drug dealers and criminals' on an almost daily basis for the last 18 months every time you watch the news.
    - MrZongle2 10y ago
      "You complain about being tired of hearing/seeing people talking about Donald Trump all the time, so presumably you feel unable to ignore it." When noise drowns out signal, no amount of ignoring will help. People being passive-aggressive about politics in a non-political venue are neither changing the political system nor contributing to the venue in which they comment.

grzm 10y ago

I don't think your parent's sentiment necessarily has anything to do with the results of the election. Even before Nov. 8 2016 there's been plenty of debate about how much politics should play a role in HN, even beyond what the guidelines. This is not the first time a member has mentioned wanting less politics. It's perfectly legitimate to want to be able to discuss articles without having politics added to it. The current submission makes no mention of politics in general or Trump in particular. Given how much discussion of politics is going on in other threads, it's understandable to want the bar to to drag it in to be higher. How much of what is being said is new?

MrZongle2 10y ago
I based my post off of this part of the parent comment: " And yet, as I write this, every single comment in this damn thread mentions him." And not only was that poster right, at the time it was written, it is a frigging epidemic everywhere right now. On HN, on Reddit, on every platform; if the topic at hand is not tightly focused and apolitical, somebody eventually will make a derogative Trump comment. Some of it is purely for humor. Some of it is pure snark. Some of it is virtue signalling. But almost all of it is noise, not signal.
- Karunamon 10y ago
  What this thread has taught me is that fighting this trend, even on HN, is not worth the time. The haters are going to hate, and there's no point suggesting that maybe it's not a good place for it, lest you want your comments greyed. Trump uses Twitter, therefore any topic about Twitter is about Trump by proxy, or something.
- anigbrowl 10y ago
  Have you considered that this is a reflection of the way Donald Trump communicates? He injects his opinions on subjects he patently knows nothing about into public discourse on a regular basis, relying on startlement more than substance - like a shock jock on the radio. The social, political and governmental power he now wields is immense. I have to keep an eye on his tiny tweets of terror because random shit he posts there has the potential to directly impact my life in the short term. This is precisely why lots of people were saying he should give up tweeting (at least on his personal account) once he took office, and rely on formal/official channels of communication for anything important. He has demonstrated a a preference for demonizing individuals and particular businesses and institutions, and where he leads, a mob of deplorables often follows. You complain about being tired of hearing/seeing people talking about Donald Trump all the time, so presumably you feel unable to ignore it. It seems not to have occurred to you that people who dislike Trump are even more sick of hearing about and from him. Imagine being a Mexican person and hearing yourself and your family described as 'rapists, drug dealers and criminals' on an almost daily basis for the last 18 months every time you watch the news.
  - MrZongle2 10y ago
    "You complain about being tired of hearing/seeing people talking about Donald Trump all the time, so presumably you feel unable to ignore it." When noise drowns out signal, no amount of ignoring will help. People being passive-aggressive about politics in a non-political venue are neither changing the political system nor contributing to the venue in which they comment.