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I started reading hacker news regularly about 1.5 years ago and one of the main reasons I liked it was there seemed to be fewer comments like these than Reddit

by mint2 6y ago

I started reading hacker news regularly about 1.5 years ago and one of the main reasons I liked it was there seemed to be fewer comments like these than Reddit in addition to the interesting tech content. Lately, it’s been just as bad. This comment is completely pushing a political narrative that relies on selective interpretation.

zzleeper 6y ago
I started reading it circa 2008, created my account in 2009. In a way, HN is still a reflection of society, although more civil due to pg (then) or dang (now) moderation, plus the fact that a lot of users knew each other back then. Nowadays, I'm constantly amazed at how the right is able to turn ANYTHING into someone else's fault. The right divides the country ("let's own the libtards", "the election is a sham", etc) but no, it was the left! The right does a coup, but no, it is the left that cannot let bygones be bygones. Do they think we are dumb? are they dumb? what is going on?? Black is white is black, war is peace, etc. etc. and no one even blinks at this.
- readflaggedcomm 6y ago
  Their unsuccessful, bloody coup and treason will be punished by legal recourse. The impeachment is already started up again to prevent deranged voters from dictating a second term. No one is blinking in the face of violence. Remain strong and resist. Civil discussion is still possible if you refuse to feel ashamed for rejecting falsehoods, which may be the weakness we have taken on in trying to remain compassionate to other voices on HN, which emboldens evil.
  - zzleeper 6y ago
    I'm just surprised at how close the US came to stop being a democracy. A bit more planning about what to do when they breach the capitol, a few more Qanon captains across the river at Ft Myer, or a few 100ks more Trump supporters here and there in the polls, and things would look very different now. And of course, this is just the beginning. Right-wing extremists now this; the sooner we realize that we are against an enemy that wants to overthrow democracy, the sooner we put a better fight against it.
- krapp 6y ago
  >Do they think we are dumb? are they dumb? what is going on?? Black is white is black, war is peace, etc. etc. and no one even blinks at this. It's a very old trick. “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” - Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Propaganda Minister (possibly apocryphal)
hourislate 6y ago
Well, a lot of the articles being posted push a political narrative along with subtle comments like yours that seem to suggest the opposing view.
- mint2 6y ago
  Yeah this article should not have been posted. And btw you’ve hit the nail on the head. that’s the thing, I firmly believe the poster I replied to is wrong and a lot of other uncharitable descriptions. It’s hard to let such bad claims just stand unanswered. This type of article and that type of post I replied to is just asking for contention. I don’t come to hacker news for that sort of asinine online argument. If I feel like that, there’s a hundred subreddits I could visit.

by mint2 6y ago

zzleeper 6y ago

I started reading it circa 2008, created my account in 2009. In a way, HN is still a reflection of society, although more civil due to pg (then) or dang (now) moderation, plus the fact that a lot of users knew each other back then. Nowadays, I'm constantly amazed at how the right is able to turn ANYTHING into someone else's fault. The right divides the country ("let's own the libtards", "the election is a sham", etc) but no, it was the left! The right does a coup, but no, it is the left that cannot let bygones be bygones. Do they think we are dumb? are they dumb? what is going on?? Black is white is black, war is peace, etc. etc. and no one even blinks at this.

readflaggedcomm 6y ago
Their unsuccessful, bloody coup and treason will be punished by legal recourse. The impeachment is already started up again to prevent deranged voters from dictating a second term. No one is blinking in the face of violence. Remain strong and resist. Civil discussion is still possible if you refuse to feel ashamed for rejecting falsehoods, which may be the weakness we have taken on in trying to remain compassionate to other voices on HN, which emboldens evil.
- zzleeper 6y ago
  I'm just surprised at how close the US came to stop being a democracy. A bit more planning about what to do when they breach the capitol, a few more Qanon captains across the river at Ft Myer, or a few 100ks more Trump supporters here and there in the polls, and things would look very different now. And of course, this is just the beginning. Right-wing extremists now this; the sooner we realize that we are against an enemy that wants to overthrow democracy, the sooner we put a better fight against it.
krapp 6y ago
>Do they think we are dumb? are they dumb? what is going on?? Black is white is black, war is peace, etc. etc. and no one even blinks at this. It's a very old trick. “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” - Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Propaganda Minister (possibly apocryphal)

hourislate 6y ago

Well, a lot of the articles being posted push a political narrative along with subtle comments like yours that seem to suggest the opposing view.

mint2 6y ago
Yeah this article should not have been posted. And btw you’ve hit the nail on the head. that’s the thing, I firmly believe the poster I replied to is wrong and a lot of other uncharitable descriptions. It’s hard to let such bad claims just stand unanswered. This type of article and that type of post I replied to is just asking for contention. I don’t come to hacker news for that sort of asinine online argument. If I feel like that, there’s a hundred subreddits I could visit.