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While this may be generally interesting to some folks, it is off-topic on HackerNews.

fuzzfactor 1y ago
I think at one point not too long ago that was more realistic than now. For one thing the general interest is limited to those that actually pay attention to the cause & effect of economic conditions, and that may not even be the mainstream majority of Facebook readers and TV watchers. I do agree the more mainstream items, controversial or not, were kind of the antithesis of the intended HN readership. Then rapidly over a period of months the economic landscape has changed in ways never seen for decades, last time it was anything like this was way before the internet or any tech startup scene of any kind. Very suddenly what could very well be a majority of HN readers[0] may be finding that bullshit in Washington which they have always known was going on, and never thought would have risen to the level of threat that their own ambition and technology could not overcome, has now escalated to the point where for many, things which were completely within reach or coming close are now in doubt through no fault of their own. Whether that's education, career opportunities, or merely continued survival in the tech or financial world, even if they had been "all in" for years or just getting the foot in the door. The "general consensus" is that people can not expect to do as well going forward as they would have if stability could have been maintained, and that surely extends to HN, but it is not a general audience here. The trick is to keep it from becoming a general audience while still allowing the kind of articles from non-tech sources, especially those having financial implications, that draw worthwhile comments of the kind that can't be found anywhere else. Because things that didn't used to matter, now relate to technology startup and growth possibilities like never before. Just because of bozos in Washington which have plainly reached a critical mass of lower intellect that was never endured before, not even decades ago. Regardless if they are all as cruel as Krugman makes them out to be or not. Some very successful and wealthy capitalists are even having that deer-in-the-headlights look themselves. People on the left & right are all in for a toss-up, due to more unpredictability than ever in solid-state history. Plenty will land on their feet and come out just fine, plenty will not. And who else but HN readers would value the commentary of other HN readers over that of the commentary on general interest sites, even over the full articles when a potential entrepreneur is looking for insight into how that might effect their prospects which seemed so much more dependent on personal effort and technology. Like not that long ago, and virtually overnight there are surely some ventures where all the ambition and technology in the world won't help you now, compared to doom that can be handed down from above with the stroke of a pen. [0] Especially ones who would really like to start new companies, or seek accelerator funding for little companies when they desire to build commitment for growth. Edit: not my downvote BTW, corrective upvote actually
jaybrendansmith 1y ago
I truly appreciate your viewpoint, but we living is some very strange times. We need a place to have a rational discussion about them. There are very few places on the Internet where this can occur that aren't completely polarized already. Since this current political situation impacts so many Hacker News topics, including science, research funding, employment, job postings, economy, startup culture, in my view it is worthy of a few posts. I know there are many libertarians out there, and many small-c conservatives, that are not comfortable with what our current government is doing. I am one of those. I welcome well-reasoned arguments one way or the other, using facts. That objective reality is something worth preserving. And I don't like the deafening silence I am hearing from 'mainstream' news sources about what's going on. I've read quite a lot of dystopian science fiction, and I am getting the feels right now. When I grew up I expected we'd be living in space by now, I wan't expecting to live in Oceania.

I think at one point not too long ago that was more realistic than now. For one thing the general interest is limited to those that actually pay attention to the cause & effect of economic conditions, and that may not even be the mainstream majority of Facebook readers and TV watchers. I do agree the more mainstream items, controversial or not, were kind of the antithesis of the intended HN readership. Then rapidly over a period of months the economic landscape has changed in ways never seen for decades, last time it was anything like this was way before the internet or any tech startup scene of any kind. Very suddenly what could very well be a majority of HN readers[0] may be finding that bullshit in Washington which they have always known was going on, and never thought would have risen to the level of threat that their own ambition and technology could not overcome, has now escalated to the point where for many, things which were completely within reach or coming close are now in doubt through no fault of their own. Whether that's education, career opportunities, or merely continued survival in the tech or financial world, even if they had been "all in" for years or just getting the foot in the door. The "general consensus" is that people can not expect to do as well going forward as they would have if stability could have been maintained, and that surely extends to HN, but it is not a general audience here. The trick is to keep it from becoming a general audience while still allowing the kind of articles from non-tech sources, especially those having financial implications, that draw worthwhile comments of the kind that can't be found anywhere else. Because things that didn't used to matter, now relate to technology startup and growth possibilities like never before. Just because of bozos in Washington which have plainly reached a critical mass of lower intellect that was never endured before, not even decades ago. Regardless if they are all as cruel as Krugman makes them out to be or not. Some very successful and wealthy capitalists are even having that deer-in-the-headlights look themselves. People on the left & right are all in for a toss-up, due to more unpredictability than ever in solid-state history. Plenty will land on their feet and come out just fine, plenty will not. And who else but HN readers would value the commentary of other HN readers over that of the commentary on general interest sites, even over the full articles when a potential entrepreneur is looking for insight into how that might effect their prospects which seemed so much more dependent on personal effort and technology. Like not that long ago, and virtually overnight there are surely some ventures where all the ambition and technology in the world won't help you now, compared to doom that can be handed down from above with the stroke of a pen. [0] Especially ones who would really like to start new companies, or seek accelerator funding for little companies when they desire to build commitment for growth. Edit: not my downvote BTW, corrective upvote actually

jaybrendansmith 1y ago

I truly appreciate your viewpoint, but we living is some very strange times. We need a place to have a rational discussion about them. There are very few places on the Internet where this can occur that aren't completely polarized already. Since this current political situation impacts so many Hacker News topics, including science, research funding, employment, job postings, economy, startup culture, in my view it is worthy of a few posts. I know there are many libertarians out there, and many small-c conservatives, that are not comfortable with what our current government is doing. I am one of those. I welcome well-reasoned arguments one way or the other, using facts. That objective reality is something worth preserving. And I don't like the deafening silence I am hearing from 'mainstream' news sources about what's going on. I've read quite a lot of dystopian science fiction, and I am getting the feels right now. When I grew up I expected we'd be living in space by now, I wan't expecting to live in Oceania.