6 ms·

This is an interesting perspective but it doesn't really mesh with my experience. If I had to describe the typical political sympathies of HN, it would be "some

by ak_yo 9y ago

This is an interesting perspective but it doesn't really mesh with my experience. If I had to describe the typical political sympathies of HN, it would be "somewhat right of center on everything, except far left on tech policy" (e.g. strongly pro net neutrality [1], lukewarm on race/gender disparities in hiring [2]). Can you think of a big thread that drew a solidly left-leaning reaction on a social issue? [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14754772 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14754772 [2] https://hn.algolia.com/?query=diversity&sort=byPopularity&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?query=diversity&sort=byPopularity&pr...

peoplewindow 9y ago
Anything related to universal basic income? UBI is a hard left policy - it's essentially welfare+++
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  Much of the support for UBI comes from a segment of the libertarian right which sees it as a way to eliminate welfare bureaucracy and regulation (not just regulation in the public benefit space, but also minimum wages and some others.) It's not really a “hard left” policy, it's more a policy of pragmatic libertarians on both left and right, opposed by both dogmatic libertarians (because it remains a public intervention, if lighter-touch than the status quo policies it would displace immediately or over time) and those on the left and right with a stronger preference for government control and direction.
alexandercrohde 9y ago
Not really right. Anti-surveillance, anti-war, mildly anti-consumerist, mildly pro-immigration, mildly anti-religion, anti-nationalism, anti-monopoly, anti-drug-war, anti-1% Right-wing politicians campaign on the exact opposite of all of these positions. It's not too different than libertarian, but right has almost nothing in common with libertarian anymore.

6 ms·

This is an interesting perspective but it doesn't really mesh with my experience. If I had to describe the typical political sympathies of HN, it would be "some

by ak_yo 9y ago

peoplewindow 9y ago
Anything related to universal basic income? UBI is a hard left policy - it's essentially welfare+++
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  Much of the support for UBI comes from a segment of the libertarian right which sees it as a way to eliminate welfare bureaucracy and regulation (not just regulation in the public benefit space, but also minimum wages and some others.) It's not really a “hard left” policy, it's more a policy of pragmatic libertarians on both left and right, opposed by both dogmatic libertarians (because it remains a public intervention, if lighter-touch than the status quo policies it would displace immediately or over time) and those on the left and right with a stronger preference for government control and direction.
alexandercrohde 9y ago
Not really right. Anti-surveillance, anti-war, mildly anti-consumerist, mildly pro-immigration, mildly anti-religion, anti-nationalism, anti-monopoly, anti-drug-war, anti-1% Right-wing politicians campaign on the exact opposite of all of these positions. It's not too different than libertarian, but right has almost nothing in common with libertarian anymore.