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In a site populated by hackers and entrepreneurs, you're going to get people with a strong preference for individualism over collectivism - that's the nature of

In a site populated by hackers and entrepreneurs, you're going to get people with a strong preference for individualism over collectivism - that's the nature of the beast here. People are going to be very free action-oriented, anti-paternalistic, and not too many of us are going to like the government. We've also got the smart people thing going on where we think politicians are numbskills that spend more time politicking than doing anything intelligent. So you've got that. But past that, it's hard to find intelligent discussion on economics, government, and society, and a bit coming into HN is healthy for the discussion. What I'm impressed about is that we get practically no political current events here - and that's pretty cool. Most of the ideas we talk about in terms of economics, society, and government are pretty broad, intellectual strokes instead of inflamed stuff. And for the record, I'm all up for talking about market failure, monopolozation, and unfair initial distribution of resources. And we can have some good discussion. Edit: This was originally a reply to someone who said HN was being invaded by Conservative lobbyists getting free publicity or some such. byrneseyeview replied to the same guy quoting some of it before he deleted it if you're curious as to the gist of it.

tptacek 18y ago
A social safety net isn't "collectivism". "Collectivism" is an emotional button hard libertarians try to push. Agree or disagree with Social Security, but please don't tar "hackers and entrepreneurs" with a single political brush.
- lionhearted 18y ago
  Pardon me, I didn't know it was a politically-loaded term these days. I meant it as a more general term the way people would make the broad statement that "Eastern societies are more collectivist, and Western societies are more individualist." More responsibility to the group, with the associated pros and cons of that. I was making the point to the original poster who said HN has a conservative lean. My point was you're going to tend to see more individualistic people on the whole here, and more individualistic people tend to dislike the government having a larger role in their lives. That's true on the whole in my experience, but certainly not for everyone. Anyway, thanks for pointing that out. I'm just here for good discussion and the free cookies, not to push any emotional buttons or tar people I respect with a single political brush :)
  - tptacek 18y ago
    Every time people write sentences that start with "Hackers tend to" and involve "the government", I throw up a little in my mouth. You could use the same logic about "individualist hackers" to argue against gun control. But then you'd be Eric Raymond. Hackers are people who like to build things. That's all. They don't all think like you. Some of our country's greatest entrepreneurs are also its strongest believers in the social safety net. You might consider starting with Warren Buffett.
    - lionhearted 18y ago
      No worries, I feel like I've learned an important lesson here about generalizing. For the record, you don't need to talk about being tarred, throwing up in your mouth, for me to get your point - but it does get across that how you feel about this. I'll be more careful about broad generalizations going forwards, and best wishes.
      - tptacek 18y ago
        Sokay. You're being nicer than I am at this point.
JunkDNA 18y ago
I would take your point about there not being many political current events a step further. The broad ideas discussed here are some of the most important issues of our day. I might be overstating things a bit, but I think it's safe to say that the HN audience is largely composed of the people who work to propel society forward through their ventures. The readership here are highly educated and are largely "in the trenches" every day solving problems and building the things society needs. These professional problem solvers and hackers are the very individuals I want to be engaging in healthy debate about the virtues of various policies and their impact on business, innovation, and society as a whole. The problem is when the policy debate degenerates into the standard political name calling and senseless bickering that does nothing to advance intelligent ideas. If any community can keep that to a minimum, it's this one.
- tptacek 18y ago
  I would be interested in talking to many of the people here about cooking. But this isn't "Hackers Discussing Cooking"; it's "Hacker News". Your idea about what this site should be is a slippery slope.

tptacek 18y ago

A social safety net isn't "collectivism". "Collectivism" is an emotional button hard libertarians try to push. Agree or disagree with Social Security, but please don't tar "hackers and entrepreneurs" with a single political brush.

lionhearted 18y ago
Pardon me, I didn't know it was a politically-loaded term these days. I meant it as a more general term the way people would make the broad statement that "Eastern societies are more collectivist, and Western societies are more individualist." More responsibility to the group, with the associated pros and cons of that. I was making the point to the original poster who said HN has a conservative lean. My point was you're going to tend to see more individualistic people on the whole here, and more individualistic people tend to dislike the government having a larger role in their lives. That's true on the whole in my experience, but certainly not for everyone. Anyway, thanks for pointing that out. I'm just here for good discussion and the free cookies, not to push any emotional buttons or tar people I respect with a single political brush :)
- tptacek 18y ago
  Every time people write sentences that start with "Hackers tend to" and involve "the government", I throw up a little in my mouth. You could use the same logic about "individualist hackers" to argue against gun control. But then you'd be Eric Raymond. Hackers are people who like to build things. That's all. They don't all think like you. Some of our country's greatest entrepreneurs are also its strongest believers in the social safety net. You might consider starting with Warren Buffett.
  - lionhearted 18y ago
    No worries, I feel like I've learned an important lesson here about generalizing. For the record, you don't need to talk about being tarred, throwing up in your mouth, for me to get your point - but it does get across that how you feel about this. I'll be more careful about broad generalizations going forwards, and best wishes.
    - tptacek 18y ago
      Sokay. You're being nicer than I am at this point.

JunkDNA 18y ago

I would take your point about there not being many political current events a step further. The broad ideas discussed here are some of the most important issues of our day. I might be overstating things a bit, but I think it's safe to say that the HN audience is largely composed of the people who work to propel society forward through their ventures. The readership here are highly educated and are largely "in the trenches" every day solving problems and building the things society needs. These professional problem solvers and hackers are the very individuals I want to be engaging in healthy debate about the virtues of various policies and their impact on business, innovation, and society as a whole. The problem is when the policy debate degenerates into the standard political name calling and senseless bickering that does nothing to advance intelligent ideas. If any community can keep that to a minimum, it's this one.

tptacek 18y ago
I would be interested in talking to many of the people here about cooking. But this isn't "Hackers Discussing Cooking"; it's "Hacker News". Your idea about what this site should be is a slippery slope.