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This is a perfect example of the disconnect between "hackers" and the real world. I consider myself part of the HN community because I hope for a society shaped

by FD3SA 13y ago

This is a perfect example of the disconnect between "hackers" and the real world. I consider myself part of the HN community because I hope for a society shaped by its ideals, but the real world is so far removed that time spent here becomes more of a therapeutic escape than anything else. I strongly recommend people study history, and understand human nature at both scientific and societal levels. There is too much to discuss here, but in brief: Homo-sapiens, much like other primates, create status hierarchies while competing for resources and mates. Status is directly proportional to the ability to exercise power. All of human history has been a result of this inter and intra-hierachy competition. In a police state such as the modern US, the lowest police officer has an unimaginably higher potential to exercise power than any median income citizen. As such, that power is often exercised. As the author realized, you have no ability to fight back in a police state. You can sue, but good luck getting results. So the real question is, why do you think your startup is worth pursuing given the situation you're in? Do you really think "bringing transparency to the food industry", or the thousands of other startups that go through YC, are even relevant given the reality of the US police state? This has been my biggest criticism of "Hacker" culture. Closing your eyes and pretending you live in Galt's Gluch is not going to make it a reality. Wake up and look at the world around you and realize that just because you haven't been crushed by the state yet, doesn't mean it's never going to happen. Once you realize that, your priorities will hopefully shift in a more reasonable direction. Nobody, and I mean nobody, is safe from totalitarian police states. This is a fact history has shown repeatedly. Act accordingly. P.S. Just saw that immediately race was brought up. As a tip to anyone who wants to make a difference, people in power will divide you into as many groups as you let them in order to subjugate you. When the system is in place, it doesn't matter what ethnicity you belong to. If you piss off the wrong person, you're finished. The trick is to unify to disassemble the monstrosity, not balkanize into smaller and ever more powerless units based on: race, income, sex, height, attractiveness, beliefs, democrat/republican, pro-life/pro-choice, LBGT-hetero, pro-KONY/anti-KONY, ... Please, understand power. Understand how little you have, and how to make best use of it to attain your goals. Balkanize at your own peril.

chilldream 13y ago
> P.S. Just saw that immediately race was brought up. As a tip to anyone who wants to make a difference, people in power will divide you into as many groups as you let them in order to subjugate you. You can simultaneously recognize that the system is biased against certain races while also avoiding infighting based upon race. It's kind of ironic that you tell people to pay more attention to reality and then essentially tell people to pretend racism doesn't exist in one of the most racist segments of US society.
- amagumori 13y ago
  > You can simultaneously recognize that the system is biased against certain races while also avoiding infighting based upon race. maybe you and i can, but in practice, that doesn't really happen. one of the biggest problems with our social justice movement is the complete lack of unity. many times when i see privilege brought up, it's used to invalidate opinions and justify hate towards those with more privilege ("i'm oppressed so my hate is irrelevant compared to the oppression inflicted on me"), not as a simple reminder of people's relative advantages or disadvantages. the crux of the problem is that the issues of a minority community have a much greater chance of being solved with support outside of that specific community. but groups that advocate for social justice for minority groups too often create a dialogue of hate and "oppressor / oppressed", and outright exclude those who don't belong to the oppressed community for which they are advocating. in this way these communities become insular echo chambers, since rather than taking outside voices with a grain of salt, outside voices are simply not tolerated. the dialogue becomes more and more partisan / hateful and the rift between relatively advantaged and relatively disadvantaged groups grows wider.
  - chilldream 13y ago
    I don't identify with the "social justice" movement for similar reasons, but that doesn't mean racism doesn't exist, and that certainly doesn't mean it's productive to try to remove discussion about racism from an arena so profoundly racist. Look up "The Southern Strategy" and its relation to drug criminalization. Look up "Stop and Frisk". Look up the reasons behind criminalizing crack at a higher level than cocaine. Incarceration rates, prosecution rates, execution rates, literally everything even vaguely related to this topic. It's pervasive. If you choose to ignore that, minorities who think you don't have their interests at heart probably have a point.

by FD3SA 13y ago

chilldream 13y ago

> P.S. Just saw that immediately race was brought up. As a tip to anyone who wants to make a difference, people in power will divide you into as many groups as you let them in order to subjugate you. You can simultaneously recognize that the system is biased against certain races while also avoiding infighting based upon race. It's kind of ironic that you tell people to pay more attention to reality and then essentially tell people to pretend racism doesn't exist in one of the most racist segments of US society.

amagumori 13y ago
> You can simultaneously recognize that the system is biased against certain races while also avoiding infighting based upon race. maybe you and i can, but in practice, that doesn't really happen. one of the biggest problems with our social justice movement is the complete lack of unity. many times when i see privilege brought up, it's used to invalidate opinions and justify hate towards those with more privilege ("i'm oppressed so my hate is irrelevant compared to the oppression inflicted on me"), not as a simple reminder of people's relative advantages or disadvantages. the crux of the problem is that the issues of a minority community have a much greater chance of being solved with support outside of that specific community. but groups that advocate for social justice for minority groups too often create a dialogue of hate and "oppressor / oppressed", and outright exclude those who don't belong to the oppressed community for which they are advocating. in this way these communities become insular echo chambers, since rather than taking outside voices with a grain of salt, outside voices are simply not tolerated. the dialogue becomes more and more partisan / hateful and the rift between relatively advantaged and relatively disadvantaged groups grows wider.
- chilldream 13y ago
  I don't identify with the "social justice" movement for similar reasons, but that doesn't mean racism doesn't exist, and that certainly doesn't mean it's productive to try to remove discussion about racism from an arena so profoundly racist. Look up "The Southern Strategy" and its relation to drug criminalization. Look up "Stop and Frisk". Look up the reasons behind criminalizing crack at a higher level than cocaine. Incarceration rates, prosecution rates, execution rates, literally everything even vaguely related to this topic. It's pervasive. If you choose to ignore that, minorities who think you don't have their interests at heart probably have a point.