571–580 of 868 posts
I've been following Hacker News for over a decade and my sense of the community is that it has always been overwhelmingly pro free speech at any cost (even in the cases where it would protect something outright illegal). Now I'm hearing from many in the same community that free speech has been "weaponized" and must be controlled for the greater good. What happened? Seriously.
Why is the second sentence of this article about how the CEO of Gab used a Transphobic slur? It kind of seems like the author threw that in there to make sure the reader agrees with their political views, but the article doesn't say what the slur was, and I don't think the author would defend the idea that being transphobic makes it okay to hack a person's website, but it kind of feels like that's the point implicitl…
I wouldn't be so sure of that.
> It feels like yet another injection of politics into what was previously a tech-focused website.
Technology itself may be politically neutral but its use and creation is inherently political.
I spent a number of years living in America in the past, and made friends with people across the political spectrum there. And what has always stood out to me is how much hatred and animosity the American right and left have for each other. Talk with someone over beers long enough and they really open up about it, probably because I'm an outsider. As far as political orientation goes, by worldwide standards America a…
I disagree that Democrats are center-right. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or Bernie Sanders are definitely left wing, even for European standards. But you might be partly right. One of the reasons for that are rules of political marketing (rarely politicians have enough courage to ignore them). One of those rules says that you need to differ and polarization is good. You want to win? Show how different you are. Another ru…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
From my point of view as an American who has lived in Europe (Sweden, later Germany, and the UK) my framing of the US political situation is as follows: Democrats tend to be authoritarian and pro-centralization of power. Republicans tend to be anti-authoritarian and pro-decentralization. Both major parties have a long history of deep corruption. They've essentially colluded to rob the American people blind. Unfortuna…
Um, no one would ever label Republicans "anti-authoritarian". When your ideology extends from rules concerning which water fountain you can drink from, it's hard to shake the authoritarian label.
"They're fighters. When are we going to get a real fighter on our side to finally stand up to them?"
"Look, I understand being principled, but get real. They don't give a damn about principles and will break every rule to get their way. It's time to fight dirty like they do."
"Our side isn't perfect but they're authoritarians."
BOTH sides say all of these things. And they seem to think it's a joke when the other side claims to see it the same way.
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Any response that begins with at least... should remain in kindergarden. No one is a role model.
While I agree he's far from perfect (at the very least he sanctioned a couple extrajudicial executions and a coup in my home country) he seems to be a loving husband and father, can complete sentences and expose coherent reasoning. He clearly shows signs of a very superior intelligence, never declared bankruptcy (and never bankrupted a casino!) or defrauded investors, nor cheated on every single wife he had (he's sti…
Maybe a firefighters or a teacher or a policeman should be looked at as a hero before a politician.
I've been following Hacker News for over a decade and my sense of the community is that it has always been overwhelmingly pro free speech at any cost (even in the cases where it would protect something outright illegal). Now I'm hearing from many in the same community that free speech has been "weaponized" and must be controlled for the greater good. What happened? Seriously.
Some things just DONT need to be said. Racial slurs in the wrong context (attacks), holocaust denials, etc. these things have NO positive outcome. None. Nothing at all in the world will change if you ban these things.
We can have free speech while stopping extremism and getting rid of scum like Gab and parlor is the first step.
It’s not a black or white situation.
I've been following Hacker News for over a decade and my sense of the community is that it has always been overwhelmingly pro free speech at any cost (even in the cases where it would protect something outright illegal). Now I'm hearing from many in the same community that free speech has been "weaponized" and must be controlled for the greater good. What happened? Seriously.
Why is the second sentence of this article about how the CEO of Gab used a Transphobic slur? It kind of seems like the author threw that in there to make sure the reader agrees with their political views, but the article doesn't say what the slur was, and I don't think the author would defend the idea that being transphobic makes it okay to hack a person's website, but it kind of feels like that's the point implicitl…
I wouldn’t say it’s a transphobic slur. He said it to clearly piss off people though.
The ceo sounds like a very secure, happy person with no mental problems.
Also, transgender issues aren’t political. Modern monetary theory can be political. Immigration policies are political. Human rights are not political. I’m not a liberal or anything, just a rational person.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Um, no one would ever label Republicans "anti-authoritarian". When your ideology extends from rules concerning which water fountain you can drink from, it's hard to shake the authoritarian label.
"No one" - Lots of people have a lack of awareness of what the other side thinks. "They're fighters. When are we going to get a real fighter on our side to finally stand up to them?" "Look, I understand being principled, but get real. They don't give a damn about principles and will break every rule to get their way. It's time to fight dirty like they do." "Our side isn't perfect but they're authoritarians." BOTH sid…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the contrary, I find the left/right spectrum a useful, if rather rough, guide to the landscape og political opinions. But of course, the devil is in the details, and you ignore them at your peril. I consider myself sort of left leaning, but I still think there are a whole lot of misguided ideas on the left, some of them flat out dangerous.
Useful to what end? So that people can easily label an idea such that tribal followers can quickly decide if they are on board? I can't think of great applications, only negative outcomes from such a simplified labeling of people and ideas.