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I'd be curious to hear why this is being downvoted/flagged. In the meantime, vouched. Edit: Bit interesting that even this comment is being downvoted, with few

by squigz 2y ago

I'd be curious to hear why this is being downvoted/flagged. In the meantime, vouched. Edit: Bit interesting that even this comment is being downvoted, with few replies.

ozr 2y ago
Because it's Trump hysteria. It's nonsense.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- squigz 2y ago
  Would you care to elaborate a bit? It looks like you have to get quite a bit into the article before Trump is mentioned, and the article is clearly not just talking about America.
  - ozr 2y ago
    The context is critical. This was written in 2022, and every single example is bookended by 'look at how this happening in the US'. This sort of political rhetoric has a distinct smell that is very obvious.
- ecocentrik 2y ago
  As far as I can see the biggest authoritarian conflict at play in the Americas right now is in Venezuela, not the US. Trump might model much of his behavior on Venezuelan dictators but he's currently out of power and unlikely to be elected this year. I'm more worried about 2028 when someone like DeSantis, who's policies and tendencies are already significantly more authoritarian, could be leading the Republican ticket. There is value in educating Americans on the benefits of Democracy and the cost of giving it up regardless of who the wannabe dictator is.
lolinder 2y ago
Because I get enough end-of-democracy content from just about everywhere else these days and I come here for something different. It's exhausting to have to read titles like this and filter it myself, and "flag" better communicates that I think this is not just something I'm uninterested in but also something I feel violates the guidelines and shouldn't have been posted in the first place. > Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, or celebrities, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. > Please don't use Hacker News for political or ideological battle. That tramples curiosity. I see no evidence that discussion on this article will evolve to be better than discussion on most political submissions, so I see no reason for it to remain on the front page.
- squigz 2y ago
  > > Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, or celebrities, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. Most. > > Please don't use Hacker News for political or ideological battle. That tramples curiosity. Personally, I don't really consider an article talking about threats to democratic societies as a political or ideological battle. I suppose I can see why some people would though. > I see no evidence that discussion on this article will evolve to be better than discussion on most political submissions, so I see no reason for it to remain on the front page. Several comments on this thread, and many discussions on many political posts in the past, seem to indicate that political discussions on this site are constructive. > It's exhausting to have to read titles like this and filter it myself As an aside, isn't it more exhausting to go and flag it then? (Leaving alone that reading an article title is, you know, not very difficult)
  - lolinder 2y ago
    Nah, flagging and hiding are just a button press away. Coming into the article and commenting on it in response to people wondering why it got flagged is harder, but I feel like I owe it to the rest of the community to explain that there are flaggers who aren't Trump fans and just have strong opinions about what should and shouldn't go on HN.
candiddevmike 2y ago
There are quite a few accounts on HN that flag comments and articles that could be considered critical of Trump. They abuse the guidelines like "Please don't use Hacker News for political or ideological battle." as a censorship tool.
- lolinder 2y ago
  I'll happily flag articles that are critical of Harris and Biden too, but they seem to get flagged to death long before I get to them. Based on what I've seen, I suspect it's more accurate to say that there are a few accounts that are consistent in flagging all political content, while a majority will only flag if they disagree with it. If you notice Trump-critical articles getting flagged more often that probably says more about your politics than the state of HN.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - squigz 2y ago
    > If you notice Trump-critical articles getting flagged more often that probably says more about your politics than the state of HN. How does this work? If more Trump-critical articles are being flagged... that's certainly saying something about the state of HN. I'm not sure what it indicates about my own politics?
    - lolinder 2y ago
      I didn't say more Trump-critical articles are flagged, I said if you (or rather, OP) notice them more. HN leans left, but not left enough that the Harris-critical articles don't get posted at all—you just don't have an emotional reaction to them getting flagged to death and so they don't register. I will say that Trump-critical articles definitely last longer and so you'll very likely see more of them before they disappear, which means you're likely to notice them disappear more regularly. That is part of the state of HN, so I'll grant you that—right-wing politics disappear faster than left-wing.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
AnimalMuppet 2y ago
How do you vouch for a submission that is flagged but not dead? I can't see a way to do it.
- squigz 2y ago
  I think you can only vouch a dead post/comment? I'm not entirely sure though.

by squigz 2y ago

I'd be curious to hear why this is being downvoted/flagged. In the meantime, vouched. Edit: Bit interesting that even this comment is being downvoted, with few replies.

ozr 2y ago

Because it's Trump hysteria. It's nonsense.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
squigz 2y ago
Would you care to elaborate a bit? It looks like you have to get quite a bit into the article before Trump is mentioned, and the article is clearly not just talking about America.
- ozr 2y ago
  The context is critical. This was written in 2022, and every single example is bookended by 'look at how this happening in the US'. This sort of political rhetoric has a distinct smell that is very obvious.
ecocentrik 2y ago
As far as I can see the biggest authoritarian conflict at play in the Americas right now is in Venezuela, not the US. Trump might model much of his behavior on Venezuelan dictators but he's currently out of power and unlikely to be elected this year. I'm more worried about 2028 when someone like DeSantis, who's policies and tendencies are already significantly more authoritarian, could be leading the Republican ticket. There is value in educating Americans on the benefits of Democracy and the cost of giving it up regardless of who the wannabe dictator is.

lolinder 2y ago

Because I get enough end-of-democracy content from just about everywhere else these days and I come here for something different. It's exhausting to have to read titles like this and filter it myself, and "flag" better communicates that I think this is not just something I'm uninterested in but also something I feel violates the guidelines and shouldn't have been posted in the first place. > Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, or celebrities, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. > Please don't use Hacker News for political or ideological battle. That tramples curiosity. I see no evidence that discussion on this article will evolve to be better than discussion on most political submissions, so I see no reason for it to remain on the front page.

squigz 2y ago
> > Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, or celebrities, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. Most. > > Please don't use Hacker News for political or ideological battle. That tramples curiosity. Personally, I don't really consider an article talking about threats to democratic societies as a political or ideological battle. I suppose I can see why some people would though. > I see no evidence that discussion on this article will evolve to be better than discussion on most political submissions, so I see no reason for it to remain on the front page. Several comments on this thread, and many discussions on many political posts in the past, seem to indicate that political discussions on this site are constructive. > It's exhausting to have to read titles like this and filter it myself As an aside, isn't it more exhausting to go and flag it then? (Leaving alone that reading an article title is, you know, not very difficult)
- lolinder 2y ago
  Nah, flagging and hiding are just a button press away. Coming into the article and commenting on it in response to people wondering why it got flagged is harder, but I feel like I owe it to the rest of the community to explain that there are flaggers who aren't Trump fans and just have strong opinions about what should and shouldn't go on HN.

candiddevmike 2y ago

There are quite a few accounts on HN that flag comments and articles that could be considered critical of Trump. They abuse the guidelines like "Please don't use Hacker News for political or ideological battle." as a censorship tool.

lolinder 2y ago
I'll happily flag articles that are critical of Harris and Biden too, but they seem to get flagged to death long before I get to them. Based on what I've seen, I suspect it's more accurate to say that there are a few accounts that are consistent in flagging all political content, while a majority will only flag if they disagree with it. If you notice Trump-critical articles getting flagged more often that probably says more about your politics than the state of HN.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- squigz 2y ago
  > If you notice Trump-critical articles getting flagged more often that probably says more about your politics than the state of HN. How does this work? If more Trump-critical articles are being flagged... that's certainly saying something about the state of HN. I'm not sure what it indicates about my own politics?
  - lolinder 2y ago
    I didn't say more Trump-critical articles are flagged, I said if you (or rather, OP) notice them more. HN leans left, but not left enough that the Harris-critical articles don't get posted at all—you just don't have an emotional reaction to them getting flagged to death and so they don't register. I will say that Trump-critical articles definitely last longer and so you'll very likely see more of them before they disappear, which means you're likely to notice them disappear more regularly. That is part of the state of HN, so I'll grant you that—right-wing politics disappear faster than left-wing.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

AnimalMuppet 2y ago

How do you vouch for a submission that is flagged but not dead? I can't see a way to do it.

squigz 2y ago
I think you can only vouch a dead post/comment? I'm not entirely sure though.