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No. Despite a global membership, it still appears (to my foreign eyes) to be overwhelmingly (and annoyingly) US-centric. Many posters demonstrate this through

No. Despite a global membership, it still appears (to my foreign eyes) to be overwhelmingly (and annoyingly) US-centric. Many posters demonstrate this through their language (why say 401k when you could say pension scheme), assumptions (guns are legal), and the scope of their posts and commentary. You only need to read threads on crypto, gun control, politics, etc for this to become abundantly clear (irrespective of the side of the argument taken by a commenter). Of course, there are exceptions, but, by and large, HN does seem to be like this. Many posters and comments just _assume_ a US frame of reference without stopping to consider whether a global one, or a non-US one might be better.

ggm 4y ago
Same as Google. Announces new product, initially solely in the US. There are 5x as many Google consumers or more outside the US than inside and they kill the product on a whim if it "fails" some US centric market test. I wonder if the American Python community (for instance) even realises Guido is Dutch. Or marvels at his fluency in English. Many HN participants are FAANG and so US centric thinking is strong, noting of course the huge disparity on pay and conditions and inside and outside the US. There may also be a time of day effect. I'm gmt+10 so maybe I'm camping on end day ranked stories, responding to midnight owls in the US who tend to more extreme views.
- junofan 4y ago
  I guarantee people know Guido van Rossum is Dutch because his name is not Americanized.
- bradwood 4y ago
  I don't think it's just a FAANG thing. There are FAANG employees outside of the US also. I think it's simply that many US-based people are just blinkered to the world beyond. It's a cultural thing. For decades the US has aimed to export its values, democracy, world view, etc, to other parts of the world. They think of themselves as the world's protector, the upholder of what is right, the benchmark for freedom and liberty in the world. This is not to say those values are wrong - I think, by and large, they are indeed good, but the arrogance with which they are expressed by the US often just doesn't help. This is a superiority complex which is ingrained and, frankly, tiring -- there are many places in the world which can legitimately claim those accolades, but many US citizens just seem incapable of acknowledging that.
  - junofan 4y ago
    You’re describing American hegemony like it’s some sort of character flaw or deep-rooted cultural thing rather than a geopolitical reality, and I’m not sure that’s a fair point to make. We’re past peak hegemony anyway, so I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
    - feet 4y ago
      You must have missed the first half of this statement: >This is not to say those values are wrong - I think, by and large, they are indeed good, but the arrogance with which they are expressed by the US often just doesn't help. Just because something is a "geopolitical reality" doesn't mean it isn't cultural
shaburn 4y ago
In fairness the US system probably mirrors the rest of globe in complexity in many ways from an economic perspective.
- bradwood 4y ago
  I don't think it does. The US has a unique fiscal setup (federal and state), fiscal transfer, etc. The rest of the globe doesn't have this. Europe, probably the second biggest economic bloc after the US, doesn't have this either. Remember also that the USD is the world's base currency, it is the currency in which oil is traded globally (petrodollar). This means that monetary policy in the US has _far reaching_ consequences around the world in a way that any other currency bloc just does not. So its not mirroring anything -- it's unique.
  - ggm 4y ago
    This I agree with. I made flippant remarks some months back about the Californian state budget. My goodness it's complicated! And that thing about the fiscal process for the federal budget meaning on many occasions, all federal workers are simply told to stop. Unreal!
  - shaburn 4y ago
    *mirrors the rest of the world combined. IE ex-US_world_economic_complexity == US_economic_complexity

ggm 4y ago

Same as Google. Announces new product, initially solely in the US. There are 5x as many Google consumers or more outside the US than inside and they kill the product on a whim if it "fails" some US centric market test. I wonder if the American Python community (for instance) even realises Guido is Dutch. Or marvels at his fluency in English. Many HN participants are FAANG and so US centric thinking is strong, noting of course the huge disparity on pay and conditions and inside and outside the US. There may also be a time of day effect. I'm gmt+10 so maybe I'm camping on end day ranked stories, responding to midnight owls in the US who tend to more extreme views.

junofan 4y ago
I guarantee people know Guido van Rossum is Dutch because his name is not Americanized.
bradwood 4y ago
I don't think it's just a FAANG thing. There are FAANG employees outside of the US also. I think it's simply that many US-based people are just blinkered to the world beyond. It's a cultural thing. For decades the US has aimed to export its values, democracy, world view, etc, to other parts of the world. They think of themselves as the world's protector, the upholder of what is right, the benchmark for freedom and liberty in the world. This is not to say those values are wrong - I think, by and large, they are indeed good, but the arrogance with which they are expressed by the US often just doesn't help. This is a superiority complex which is ingrained and, frankly, tiring -- there are many places in the world which can legitimately claim those accolades, but many US citizens just seem incapable of acknowledging that.
- junofan 4y ago
  You’re describing American hegemony like it’s some sort of character flaw or deep-rooted cultural thing rather than a geopolitical reality, and I’m not sure that’s a fair point to make. We’re past peak hegemony anyway, so I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
  - feet 4y ago
    You must have missed the first half of this statement: >This is not to say those values are wrong - I think, by and large, they are indeed good, but the arrogance with which they are expressed by the US often just doesn't help. Just because something is a "geopolitical reality" doesn't mean it isn't cultural

shaburn 4y ago

In fairness the US system probably mirrors the rest of globe in complexity in many ways from an economic perspective.

bradwood 4y ago
I don't think it does. The US has a unique fiscal setup (federal and state), fiscal transfer, etc. The rest of the globe doesn't have this. Europe, probably the second biggest economic bloc after the US, doesn't have this either. Remember also that the USD is the world's base currency, it is the currency in which oil is traded globally (petrodollar). This means that monetary policy in the US has _far reaching_ consequences around the world in a way that any other currency bloc just does not. So its not mirroring anything -- it's unique.
- ggm 4y ago
  This I agree with. I made flippant remarks some months back about the Californian state budget. My goodness it's complicated! And that thing about the fiscal process for the federal budget meaning on many occasions, all federal workers are simply told to stop. Unreal!
- shaburn 4y ago
  *mirrors the rest of the world combined. IE ex-US_world_economic_complexity == US_economic_complexity