Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy • Hacker News Board

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#301

Post by kmicklas » Wed, Feb 01, 2017, 1:05 AM UTC

zxcvvcxz wrote: post #279

gizmo wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds socialist because it is textbook socialism. Your assertion that value, wealth, and prosperity are created through the hard work and sacrifice by business owners is of course disputed by socialists. You're begging the question here. If you stipulate that value in society is created by the very process that socialists want to dismantle, then of course being a socialist is irrational. No real conversation can…

If I'm dismissive it's because we've had a lot of field tests of socialism throughout history, as well as in economic studies, and the results are always poor. It's a dangerous mindset to not examine critically because it is a slippery slope towards communism, the most inhumane type of society responsible for the most deaths in human history (much more than religion). > Value in society is created by teachers, whom g…

> If I'm dismissive it's because we've had a lot of field tests of socialism throughout history, as well as in economic studies, and the results are always poor. It's a dangerous mindset to not examine critically because it is a slippery slope towards communism, the most inhumane type of society responsible for the most deaths in human history (much more than religion).

This one sentence already demonstrates that you don't know what the words socialism or communism means.

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#302

Post by dukeluke » Wed, Feb 01, 2017, 1:05 AM UTC

kmicklas wrote: post #294

dukeluke wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that the benefits of globalization are offset by the centralization of the remaining jobs, and is adding to the inequality seen in America. There are some parts of the country doing fantastic, but a lot of the Midwest is seeing lower wages, fewer jobs, and a lower quality of life.

That's largely a false narrative.

What do you mean by this? What did I say that was false?

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#303

Post by notforgot » Wed, Feb 01, 2017, 1:05 AM UTC

wu-ikkyu wrote: post #146

The problem of "fake news" is the same as the age old Koan of truth vs. falsehood. Truth is subjective and relative to the time period and cultural mythologies, and is always changing. How can we even begin to solve this apparent problem if we can't even objectively define our variables, lest we become digital Don Quixotes?

"1 + 1 = 2" is true and objective for an infinite time period.

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#304

Post by mjolk » Wed, Feb 01, 2017, 1:06 AM UTC

sparkzilla wrote: post #79

mjolk wrote: post #58

> News: We’re facing two major issues with news. The first is fake news. The business model for online media rewards the people who get the greatest number of page views, clicks and likes. That results in a system that prizes virality over truth. This is insanely difficult as interpersonal trust is expensive and getting first-hand information/data is extremely non-trivial. I agree that "mainstream media" (quotes beca…

Paul Graham is right that it has to be something you want to do, but it is possible to build large new media sites on short attention spans -- if your site is designed for them. My site, an actual working solution to the problem of both fake news and bias, is doing great (Over three million page views last month). However, we most likely won't apply to YC this time, or ever again, due to Sam Altman's anti-Trump bias.

> My site, an actual working solution to the problem of both fake news and bias, is doing great (Over three million page views last month).

How is crowd-funded media a solution to the problem of bias and factually unsound reporting?

I found a link to your site from your profile and it appears to be a gossip and tabloid site with a focus on UFC.

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#305

Post by grzm » Wed, Feb 01, 2017, 1:07 AM UTC

kmicklas wrote: post #300

zxcvvcxz wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Modern corporations are run like totalitarian, authoritarian regimes with top-down orders being barked down. If you disobey, you're out. People in Western democracies are no longer putting up with non-democratic control of their political institutions, but are completely oblivious to non-democratic control of their economic institutions and are perfectly willing to take orders where and when it matters most -- ever…

> And the capitalist system works fine, because if these employees think I'm doing a shit job, they do have a vote: leave and start their own company. I didn't know it was this possible to be so non self aware. > The parts that don't work are actually the more socialist parts of the system, such as bailouts for big behemoth, and regulatory barriers to starting competitors. Socialism is when the government does things…

I didn't know it was this possible to be so non self aware.

No matter how ignorant you may think another poster is, it's never okay on HN to be uncivil. Particularly with contentious topics, it's even more important to raise to level of civility to ensure constructive discussion.

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#306

Post by kmicklas » Wed, Feb 01, 2017, 1:08 AM UTC

dukeluke wrote: post #302

kmicklas wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's largely a false narrative.

What do you mean by this? What did I say that was false?

You're right that certain parts of the country have been hit hard by automation and globalization but the idea that the hard hit people are the Trump voters is not particularly true.

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#307

Post by kmicklas » Wed, Feb 01, 2017, 1:13 AM UTC

grzm wrote: post #305

kmicklas wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And the capitalist system works fine, because if these employees think I'm doing a shit job, they do have a vote: leave and start their own company. I didn't know it was this possible to be so non self aware. > The parts that don't work are actually the more socialist parts of the system, such as bailouts for big behemoth, and regulatory barriers to starting competitors. Socialism is when the government does things…

I didn't know it was this possible to be so non self aware. No matter how ignorant you may think another poster is, it's never okay on HN to be uncivil. Particularly with contentious topics, it's even more important to raise to level of civility to ensure constructive discussion.

This isn't uncivil. This is pointing out that OP's statement is factually ignorant of the economic possibilities for 99% of the population.

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#308

Post by notforgot » Wed, Feb 01, 2017, 1:14 AM UTC

CiPHPerCoder wrote: post #75

If anyone wants a free idea for a "deal with fake news" startup: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13TK_uYpXRc3cODePnfV16Kzl... I literally do not have the time to build this, as I'm busy trying to make PHP secure. I just spitballed an idea and passed it along hackers who gave me feedback. I don't want to be contractually tied to VCs either. Just, if you like the idea, take it. Run with it. Make it successful. Use m…

Hey, cool idea! We could add this to it: https://nochio.com/?kind=bad

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#309

Post by bmm01 » Wed, Feb 01, 2017, 1:19 AM UTC

In many respects, Y Combinator, or really, start ups more broadly, seem uniquely ill equipped to solve this problem. Startups seem to be especially incompatible with the business challenges that face media companies right now. While perhaps the S curve of user growth could be attained by a media startup, the S curve of revenue isn't. And if it was, the quality of the journalism it produced would be terrible. Viral content is almost invariably superficial, frivolous and uninformative, or has an emotional quality very different from the impartial, sober thinking that we now need.

Americans have so many prejudices against publicly funded media. There's a widespread belief that if the government funds your media, its editorial perspective will reflect the government's interests. It's a completely misguided assumption in the case of, say, the CBC. The insulation from competition, and, therefore, not having to optimize content for sharing or views is necessary for producing quality, informative content. The New York Times seems to be holding onto at least a sliver of its integrity because it doesn't use such metrics, and instead is funded by subscriptions. But government funding could be valuable too (although there'd be hurdles).

That being said, the person who cracks the code for how to run a lucrative content/journalism business will make a lot of money.

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#310

Post by grzm » Wed, Feb 01, 2017, 1:20 AM UTC

kmicklas wrote: post #307

grzm wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't know it was this possible to be so non self aware. No matter how ignorant you may think another poster is, it's never okay on HN to be uncivil. Particularly with contentious topics, it's even more important to raise to level of civility to ensure constructive discussion.

This isn't uncivil. This is pointing out that OP's statement is factually ignorant of the economic possibilities for 99% of the population.

If you believe the poster is missing important facts, and you're willing to take the time to do so, let them know what it is you think they're missing in a constructive, non-combative manner. Claiming someone is heretofore unimaginably non self-aware is a direct personal insult, which is never appropriate on HN. Please contribute substantively and civilly, or refrain from doing so.