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> This seems really annoying. The most annoying part is that in any thread like this the top comment invariably ends up being some smug observation that <inser

> This seems really annoying. The most annoying part is that in any thread like this the top comment invariably ends up being some smug observation that <insert European country here> is clearly better than the US.

chrsig 5y ago
The solution to this is to help the US rise to the occasion, not complain about it on the internet.
- rootusrootus 5y ago
  Many of us are trying to do exactly that. Can you explain how smugly proclaiming "see how we are better than you!?" furthers the conversation? It is not a constructive comment, it does not offer any meaningful insight to how we might improve the US. It's just divisive.
  - chrsig 5y ago
    Showcasing a better system that the US could emulate is a great way to offer insight into how the US could improve. Interpreting it as "See how we are better than you!?" -- literally no one has said this. Interpreting it like that is just putting insecurity on display. Given the choice of two reactions: - "Geez, that system does sound better than what we've got going on here, we should consider adopting it" and - "I get it, you think you're better than us! stop being so divisive!" ...which do you think would lead to positive change? which do you think is a more fair interpretation of what the OP actually said?
    - rootusrootus 5y ago
      > Interpreting it like that is just putting insecurity on display. Of course, that's exactly it. Responding to every single thread about the US with "I don't understand why the US is this way, we do it better" isn't divisive at all. And anybody who suggests so is insecure. I prefer a constructive discussion. This ain't one.
      - ImPostingOnHN 5y ago
        It really is constructive, sharing how others have solved a particular problem. You didn't actually address the point of taking it as a negative being an artifact of insecurity, so let me add a second opinion to the same effect. It would be respectful of you to provide a meaningful (non-sarcastic) response.
- wussboy 5y ago
  Is it? We reject this logic in other areas (sexual assault comes to mind). Why is it valid here?
  - chrsig 5y ago
    Can you expand? I don't understand what you're trying to communicate.
kreeben 5y ago
What's the English word for when you're angry about something but you aim that anger towards a whole other thing?
- rootusrootus 5y ago
  Who is angry? I am tired of the divisive nature of this kind of rhetoric, and I am invested enough in the HN community that I want it to stop. I do not have a lot of spare emotional capacity for Internet drama, so if it graduates from annoyance to actual anger, I will simply abandon HN.
  - ImPostingOnHN 5y ago
    It's not divisive, our friends in Europe are on team human, same as our friends around the globe, and they're sharing info on how to do a particular thing well
sam0x17 5y ago
Comments like that though are really just a viable solution in disguise -- make the U.S. more like said country
- rootusrootus 5y ago
  That's impossible. Said country differs dramatically from the US on almost every meaningful measurement, from population size, density, style of government, cultural history, existing systems, etc. And it begs the question that said country's system is actually better. In some metrics maybe it is, in others perhaps less so. And there's no reason to believe that US citizens' priorities on that will be the same.
  - jagrsw 5y ago
    > Said country differs dramatically from the US on almost every meaningful measurement. Some differencies are relevant, some not. Population density has nothing to do with the regulation re ease or assymetries related to canceling contracts. I suspect the vast majority of US population would simply want to import the nordic ways of dealing with the discussed topics if there was a bigger discussion on it, as it'll save a lot of frustration/money, while it doesn't seem to unfairly disbenefit companies (for whatever definition of disbenefit). Nordic ISPs are probably doing fairly well (Telia et al). So, it's a question: why it's so hard or takes so long time to implement things in US, which have no obvious drawbacks and improve quality of people lifes? In the end it's also a representative democracy. This is HN, saying "we're having this process in country X, and it's clearly worse than in country Y, and the reason is 'culture and history'" might be a technical explanation here, but when it's used as a statement of support, it "does not follow".

chrsig 5y ago

The solution to this is to help the US rise to the occasion, not complain about it on the internet.

rootusrootus 5y ago
Many of us are trying to do exactly that. Can you explain how smugly proclaiming "see how we are better than you!?" furthers the conversation? It is not a constructive comment, it does not offer any meaningful insight to how we might improve the US. It's just divisive.
- chrsig 5y ago
  Showcasing a better system that the US could emulate is a great way to offer insight into how the US could improve. Interpreting it as "See how we are better than you!?" -- literally no one has said this. Interpreting it like that is just putting insecurity on display. Given the choice of two reactions: - "Geez, that system does sound better than what we've got going on here, we should consider adopting it" and - "I get it, you think you're better than us! stop being so divisive!" ...which do you think would lead to positive change? which do you think is a more fair interpretation of what the OP actually said?
  - rootusrootus 5y ago
    > Interpreting it like that is just putting insecurity on display. Of course, that's exactly it. Responding to every single thread about the US with "I don't understand why the US is this way, we do it better" isn't divisive at all. And anybody who suggests so is insecure. I prefer a constructive discussion. This ain't one.
    - ImPostingOnHN 5y ago
      It really is constructive, sharing how others have solved a particular problem. You didn't actually address the point of taking it as a negative being an artifact of insecurity, so let me add a second opinion to the same effect. It would be respectful of you to provide a meaningful (non-sarcastic) response.
wussboy 5y ago
Is it? We reject this logic in other areas (sexual assault comes to mind). Why is it valid here?
- chrsig 5y ago
  Can you expand? I don't understand what you're trying to communicate.

kreeben 5y ago

What's the English word for when you're angry about something but you aim that anger towards a whole other thing?

rootusrootus 5y ago
Who is angry? I am tired of the divisive nature of this kind of rhetoric, and I am invested enough in the HN community that I want it to stop. I do not have a lot of spare emotional capacity for Internet drama, so if it graduates from annoyance to actual anger, I will simply abandon HN.
- ImPostingOnHN 5y ago
  It's not divisive, our friends in Europe are on team human, same as our friends around the globe, and they're sharing info on how to do a particular thing well

sam0x17 5y ago

Comments like that though are really just a viable solution in disguise -- make the U.S. more like said country

rootusrootus 5y ago
That's impossible. Said country differs dramatically from the US on almost every meaningful measurement, from population size, density, style of government, cultural history, existing systems, etc. And it begs the question that said country's system is actually better. In some metrics maybe it is, in others perhaps less so. And there's no reason to believe that US citizens' priorities on that will be the same.
- jagrsw 5y ago
  > Said country differs dramatically from the US on almost every meaningful measurement. Some differencies are relevant, some not. Population density has nothing to do with the regulation re ease or assymetries related to canceling contracts. I suspect the vast majority of US population would simply want to import the nordic ways of dealing with the discussed topics if there was a bigger discussion on it, as it'll save a lot of frustration/money, while it doesn't seem to unfairly disbenefit companies (for whatever definition of disbenefit). Nordic ISPs are probably doing fairly well (Telia et al). So, it's a question: why it's so hard or takes so long time to implement things in US, which have no obvious drawbacks and improve quality of people lifes? In the end it's also a representative democracy. This is HN, saying "we're having this process in country X, and it's clearly worse than in country Y, and the reason is 'culture and history'" might be a technical explanation here, but when it's used as a statement of support, it "does not follow".