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I don't like Yarvin's ideas that I've heard, but GP has a point. There's almost no point to posting something that will just get downvoted quickly (which any d

I don't like Yarvin's ideas that I've heard, but GP has a point. There's almost no point to posting something that will just get downvoted quickly (which any defense of Yarvin certainly would), regardless of whether it makes any interesting points. Once it's dead it won't get much if any interaction. It's not about being afraid of people criticizing, it's about expending the effort to write a quality comment that won't be viewed or engaged by anyone. I do think we on HN have gotten way too reflexively downvoting of opinions we disagree with. IMHO downvoting should be used like a moderation tool to downrank low effort/spammy or factually/objectively incorrect posts that don't contribute anything interesting to the discussion, not as a lazy way of expressing our disagreement. > This is consistent with my expectation of the future of fascism. The appearance of seriousness but once you have a gun pointed in my face the presence of discussion will be dropped in favor of a bullet in my skull. You could dismiss almost any political ideology with this. Certainly there's a lot of people who experienced this in the USSR, North Korea, China, and more, and those are/were hardly fascist governments.

goatlover 1y ago
It probably has a lot to do with Yarvin's influence at least partially leading the tech CEOs and the current administration down a similar authoritarian path as the USSR, North Korea, China. Or maybe better comparison, Putin's Russian and Orban's Hungary. Why should we take those ideas seriously in liberal democratic societies? We don't take Mein Kampf's ideas seriously.
- krapp 1y ago
  I don't know about other liberal democratic societies, but there are plenty of people in the US who take Mein Kampf's ideas seriously, and there have been since it was published. Hitler credited America's genocide against Native Americans, segregation and eugenics ideals as an inspiration in it. American culture has never been entirely averse to authoritarianism, so long as it sends the correct signals (white majority, Christian sympathy, anti-government.) There will always be a significant number of Americans taking such ideas seriously, this is simply inevitable in a culture whose second most foundational principle is the right to shoot people with guns.
UncleMeat 1y ago
Yarvin’s views spread on hackernews and reddit. The world would be a better place if he was just downvoted to hell initially. I will not participate in something that we already know led to harm. Academics and anti fascist activists should study authoritarians. But in some random web forum the person boosting these ideologies isn’t engaged in any sort of meaningful anti fascism. They are at best a useful rube and at worst genuinely advocating for these illiberal positions.
- absurdo 1y ago
  The broader issue here seems to be that C.Y. isn’t a random online person venting, in that allegedly the VP endorses his stances [citation needed]. If he was a random kook with a blog nobody knew, we would pay no attention to it. But actively suppressing dissident speech is indeed the slippery slope, and he may get more endorsements as a result. Plus, it just looks bad to silence opposition because it makes the anti-fascists look like fascists. This has been addressed in one of the other comments. Therefore the way you handle these types of situations may count for a lot. Or it may count for nothing and the response is overblown. Seemingly, it’s worth something given the amount of attention he is getting. Choose wisely. Edit: I should point out that the same dismissal and suppression has led to 2 terms of Trump. So maybe there is a lesson to be learned rather than closing eyes and putting hands on ears like what this thread has exhibited.
  - UncleMeat 1y ago
    I really do not know how "downvotes on hackernews" can be interepreted as "actively suppressing dissident speech." And no, I do not believe that downvotes on web forums is what led to Trump. Not even a little.

goatlover 1y ago

It probably has a lot to do with Yarvin's influence at least partially leading the tech CEOs and the current administration down a similar authoritarian path as the USSR, North Korea, China. Or maybe better comparison, Putin's Russian and Orban's Hungary. Why should we take those ideas seriously in liberal democratic societies? We don't take Mein Kampf's ideas seriously.

krapp 1y ago
I don't know about other liberal democratic societies, but there are plenty of people in the US who take Mein Kampf's ideas seriously, and there have been since it was published. Hitler credited America's genocide against Native Americans, segregation and eugenics ideals as an inspiration in it. American culture has never been entirely averse to authoritarianism, so long as it sends the correct signals (white majority, Christian sympathy, anti-government.) There will always be a significant number of Americans taking such ideas seriously, this is simply inevitable in a culture whose second most foundational principle is the right to shoot people with guns.

UncleMeat 1y ago

Yarvin’s views spread on hackernews and reddit. The world would be a better place if he was just downvoted to hell initially. I will not participate in something that we already know led to harm. Academics and anti fascist activists should study authoritarians. But in some random web forum the person boosting these ideologies isn’t engaged in any sort of meaningful anti fascism. They are at best a useful rube and at worst genuinely advocating for these illiberal positions.

absurdo 1y ago
The broader issue here seems to be that C.Y. isn’t a random online person venting, in that allegedly the VP endorses his stances [citation needed]. If he was a random kook with a blog nobody knew, we would pay no attention to it. But actively suppressing dissident speech is indeed the slippery slope, and he may get more endorsements as a result. Plus, it just looks bad to silence opposition because it makes the anti-fascists look like fascists. This has been addressed in one of the other comments. Therefore the way you handle these types of situations may count for a lot. Or it may count for nothing and the response is overblown. Seemingly, it’s worth something given the amount of attention he is getting. Choose wisely. Edit: I should point out that the same dismissal and suppression has led to 2 terms of Trump. So maybe there is a lesson to be learned rather than closing eyes and putting hands on ears like what this thread has exhibited.
- UncleMeat 1y ago
  I really do not know how "downvotes on hackernews" can be interepreted as "actively suppressing dissident speech." And no, I do not believe that downvotes on web forums is what led to Trump. Not even a little.