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Can we not turn Hacker News into a cut-rate Reddit? The world has enough outlets for endless culture war.

zanmat0 6y ago
Absolutely agree. The recent increase in politically tinged articles on HN is really unfortunate.
happytoexplain 6y ago
I see mostly interesting thoughts so far, which I'll find almost nowhere else. There's comparatively little warring. Frankly, I think your kind of comment hurts HN more - it's essentially a self-fulfilling prophecy.
- QuesnayJr 6y ago
  I see the exact same kinds of comments I find at Reddit. And I already know where to find those kinds of comments. I probably see someone blame inequality on the Fed about once a day, for example. It's a slippery slope, but more and more the politics that has completely devoured American culture is beginning to consume this site as well. I am completely sympathetic to the idea that inequality is a problem, but HN used to be one of the few sites with substantive discussions that you could get away from politics. It's still mostly that, but that has been slipping away over the last few months. And that is a genuine tragedy in an angry and divided world.
deleted 6y ago
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bleepblorp 6y ago
Part of the point the author makes is that the tech sector--as a cluster of monopolies with disproportionate socioeconomic power--is part of the economic problem. Like it or not, the tech sector does not operate in a vacuum. What the tech sector enables, and how it concentrates wealth, has consequences for all of society. Anyone who is connected to the tech industry, as an investor or employee, has a social obligation to be aware of the externalities created by this industry. No one gets to mix paint thinner into the office coffee and then cry 'stop playing office politics' when they get called on it.
rektide 6y ago
This article seems quite neutral to me? It seems like a discussion of the world and what is happening. There is some reporting on the distribution of incomes. Those facts don't seem like they are meant to embroil us in cultural conflict though.

Absolutely agree. The recent increase in politically tinged articles on HN is really unfortunate.

I see mostly interesting thoughts so far, which I'll find almost nowhere else. There's comparatively little warring. Frankly, I think your kind of comment hurts HN more - it's essentially a self-fulfilling prophecy.

QuesnayJr 6y ago
I see the exact same kinds of comments I find at Reddit. And I already know where to find those kinds of comments. I probably see someone blame inequality on the Fed about once a day, for example. It's a slippery slope, but more and more the politics that has completely devoured American culture is beginning to consume this site as well. I am completely sympathetic to the idea that inequality is a problem, but HN used to be one of the few sites with substantive discussions that you could get away from politics. It's still mostly that, but that has been slipping away over the last few months. And that is a genuine tragedy in an angry and divided world.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

bleepblorp 6y ago

Part of the point the author makes is that the tech sector--as a cluster of monopolies with disproportionate socioeconomic power--is part of the economic problem. Like it or not, the tech sector does not operate in a vacuum. What the tech sector enables, and how it concentrates wealth, has consequences for all of society. Anyone who is connected to the tech industry, as an investor or employee, has a social obligation to be aware of the externalities created by this industry. No one gets to mix paint thinner into the office coffee and then cry 'stop playing office politics' when they get called on it.

rektide 6y ago

This article seems quite neutral to me? It seems like a discussion of the world and what is happening. There is some reporting on the distribution of incomes. Those facts don't seem like they are meant to embroil us in cultural conflict though.