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0 pointsdatsci_est_20155mo ago0 comments

You will be affected by the (hypothetical) fall of American hegemony, whether it’s increased aggression in spheres of influence (Russia, China, India), market failures, or even a fracturing or collapse of digital services (Azure, AWS).

I don’t understand the insistence that this isn’t on topic. Hard not to paint it as anything but willfully ignorant.

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8 comments · 1 top-level

nicbou5mo ago· 7 in thread

I'm not ignorant. I just don't want it in my morning cereal when it's also everywhere else.

Awareness of your country's politics definitely isn't the issue here. I am keenly aware of the US presidents' threats to invade my country.

The issue is the insistence that it has to be discussed in every community, all the time, and that the importance transcends categorisation. Every website just becomes another dumping ground for US politics, and when you bring that up, Americans get indignant.

It's Hacker News. I am here for news for hackers. The guidelines are pretty explicit: "If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic".

datsci_est_2015OP5mo ago

Okay so you didn’t really argue against it being on-topic, just that it bothers you / puts you in a bad mood.

IMO it sounds like you’d be better off reading Linux mailing lists and open source READMEs if you want to avoid politics. Just so happens that right now politics is uncomfortable, but it wasn’t 10 years ago when the interest rate was effectively 0% and the US gov and SV had still some semblance of separation.

krapp5mo ago

I'm looking at the front page right now and it's entirely "news for hackers."

You had to go out of your way to find this thread and make multiple comments complaining about it.

Just ignore the thread, or hide it and move on.

nicbou5mo ago

Yes, because the flagging system works. I'm advocating for things staying that way

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comfysocks5mo ago

To be fair, “guidelines” and “rules” are two different things. There’s no strict prohibition on politics in the guidelines. If you read the whole thing in context, it’s trying to discourage topics that are mundane, frivolous, or vacuous — not to prohibit all politics.

“MOST stories about politics, or crime, or sports, or celebrities, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. Videos of pratfalls or disasters, or cute animal pictures. If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic.”

Emphasis mine

jacquesm5mo ago

Then maybe go to a subreddit on embroidery instead? The world is going to pieces and you are worried about your breakfast?

ryandrake5mo ago

The web site already has a tool for this: The "hide" button. If you don't want to see an article, just click it and go on eating your cereal.

DeusExMachina5mo ago

That can be said about any post that goes against the guidelines. At that point, why even have guidelines in the first place?

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