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I contest the "losing our civil liberties" not being important. If there is any issue that is actually important, it's that one.

• mechanical_fish 15y ago
  So, as we have said before and will doubtless have to say again, Hacker News is a lousy forum for political teambuilding and logrolling. It's not designed for that, at all. So we discourage political discussions here. There are actions one can take to defend one's civil liberties. Joining the ACLU and the EFF and sending them money. Writing letters to local and national political figures. Voting out people who don't care about civil liberties, and raising money for their opponents. Practicing civil disobedience. Organizing and contributing to effective protests. Many of these are praiseworthy things, productive things, but they are also exactly what we mean by "politics", and they're not what we do on Hacker News. They are what Facebook, mailing lists, political blogs, newspaper editorial pages and comment sections, and most of the rest of the web is for.
  • jdp23 15y ago
    As an activist who's actively engaged in defending for our civil liberties, I see HN as a great forum. True, there are plenty of people who share your and edw519's attitude -- but civil liberties topics always got a lot of upvotes here, so there are a lot of people who see things the way I do.
    • chc 15y ago
      Yes, there are a lot of people who seem not to have read the site's guidelines (which include "no politics"), but that doesn't make it appropriate or right. Please let Hacker News be what it is. There are hundreds of sites for political axe grinding.