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> I genuinely believe people who like talking about politics are miserable humans. I dunno, maybe they're just in a place where talking and acting politically

> I genuinely believe people who like talking about politics are miserable humans. I dunno, maybe they're just in a place where talking and acting politically is important and useful to them? Perhaps that does make them miserable, if I was a white and rich guy in the US I probably wouldn't have to ever talk about politics.

alemanek 3y ago
At least for me it is nice to have some places which aren’t political where we can just geek out about super technical stuff. There are lots of places online where political discourse is the norm. No reason every space online has to be political.
- the-smug-one 3y ago
  Sure, I feel you on that. I don't need to have an explanation on, I dunno, the imperial origins of silicon chip production or something when I wanna show you my cool Raspberry pi homebrew. Still, if we're talking about the Silicon Valley banking collapse, don't be surprised if it gets political.
hospitalJail 3y ago
> if I was a white and rich guy in the US I probably wouldn't have to ever talk about politics. Semi-rich. (What do you call a 1-10%er? depending on the year since biz owner problems) Politics affects us sooo much. My wife/biz owner is paid based on how much the government gives her for a specific healthcare treatment. Since 2019 the payments actually went down. Meanwhile the AMA got their physicians raises... Not to mention, there is an upcoming regulation that affects my physical product... Oh and even though we are well-off, I still hate paying 30k/yr whenever we give birth to 1 child. And taxes are insane. You make decent money and the taxes are absurd. Meanwhile if you invest your money and don't do anything, its a mere 15% capital gains tax. Seems like the system prioritizes the 0.01% and actively prohibits the 1-5% from breaking out of it. Not to mention economics. Interest rates basically decide what we do next, rather than sound strategy. Tariffs changed things back in 2018... Basically everything is economics on my end. Social policy seems so obviously silly to me, but its easy to say that as a married white dude.
rcme 3y ago
Is it exhausting looking at every offhand HN comment through a racial lens? Plenty of rich white people like discussing politics. There are only two main political parties in the U.S. One of them has rich white people as their entire shtick. Or, log on to Facebook at look at the type of stuff boomer grandparents post.
- the-smug-one 3y ago
  Is it really so bothersome to you to hear it pointed out that people who aren't rich white men have very real needs that could be solved with political action and as such they might be more inclined to talk about politics? I'm assuming you're talking about the GOP. That party has a lot of poor white voters, they also have a very real need for political action on their part.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - rcme 3y ago
    Yes, it is bothersome. You mentioned race issues, but you could have easily mentioned climate change: “is it really so unreasonable that people want to talk about keeping the planet hospitable?” Or abortion “is it really so unreasonable women want to talk about having control of their own bodies?” Or the war in Ukraine: “is it really so unreasonable people want to talk about their own political self determination?” There will always be important political considerations that affect groups in disproportionate ways. That doesn’t mean we need to talk about politics all the time or that there is something wrong with not wanting to talk about politics. And yes, if someone expresses a desire to avoid political discussion, I think it’s a dick move to violate that desire and subtly imply they don’t care about race issues.
    - the-smug-one 3y ago
      I did mention both gender (guy) and economic (rich) status, clearly this race thing is very sensitive to you. > I think it’s a dick move to violate that desire and subtly imply they don’t care about race issues. There was no subtle implication, only your own fantasy.

alemanek 3y ago

At least for me it is nice to have some places which aren’t political where we can just geek out about super technical stuff. There are lots of places online where political discourse is the norm. No reason every space online has to be political.

the-smug-one 3y ago
Sure, I feel you on that. I don't need to have an explanation on, I dunno, the imperial origins of silicon chip production or something when I wanna show you my cool Raspberry pi homebrew. Still, if we're talking about the Silicon Valley banking collapse, don't be surprised if it gets political.

hospitalJail 3y ago

> if I was a white and rich guy in the US I probably wouldn't have to ever talk about politics. Semi-rich. (What do you call a 1-10%er? depending on the year since biz owner problems) Politics affects us sooo much. My wife/biz owner is paid based on how much the government gives her for a specific healthcare treatment. Since 2019 the payments actually went down. Meanwhile the AMA got their physicians raises... Not to mention, there is an upcoming regulation that affects my physical product... Oh and even though we are well-off, I still hate paying 30k/yr whenever we give birth to 1 child. And taxes are insane. You make decent money and the taxes are absurd. Meanwhile if you invest your money and don't do anything, its a mere 15% capital gains tax. Seems like the system prioritizes the 0.01% and actively prohibits the 1-5% from breaking out of it. Not to mention economics. Interest rates basically decide what we do next, rather than sound strategy. Tariffs changed things back in 2018... Basically everything is economics on my end. Social policy seems so obviously silly to me, but its easy to say that as a married white dude.

rcme 3y ago

Is it exhausting looking at every offhand HN comment through a racial lens? Plenty of rich white people like discussing politics. There are only two main political parties in the U.S. One of them has rich white people as their entire shtick. Or, log on to Facebook at look at the type of stuff boomer grandparents post.

the-smug-one 3y ago
Is it really so bothersome to you to hear it pointed out that people who aren't rich white men have very real needs that could be solved with political action and as such they might be more inclined to talk about politics? I'm assuming you're talking about the GOP. That party has a lot of poor white voters, they also have a very real need for political action on their part.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- rcme 3y ago
  Yes, it is bothersome. You mentioned race issues, but you could have easily mentioned climate change: “is it really so unreasonable that people want to talk about keeping the planet hospitable?” Or abortion “is it really so unreasonable women want to talk about having control of their own bodies?” Or the war in Ukraine: “is it really so unreasonable people want to talk about their own political self determination?” There will always be important political considerations that affect groups in disproportionate ways. That doesn’t mean we need to talk about politics all the time or that there is something wrong with not wanting to talk about politics. And yes, if someone expresses a desire to avoid political discussion, I think it’s a dick move to violate that desire and subtly imply they don’t care about race issues.
  - the-smug-one 3y ago
    I did mention both gender (guy) and economic (rich) status, clearly this race thing is very sensitive to you. > I think it’s a dick move to violate that desire and subtly imply they don’t care about race issues. There was no subtle implication, only your own fantasy.