Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon • Hacker News Board

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#741

Post by rescripting » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 2:11 PM UTC

constantcrying wrote: post #722

Here is what the discussion looked like almost a decade ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9626985 Very striking to see how the sentiment has drastically shifted, while the facts of the case did not. There is a really cultural shift visible in how this issue is seen on here.

I'd be wary of drawing correlations like this. The people who commented on that thread are not going to be the same people commenting on this one. The topic isn't even the same; in the first thread the topic is his sentencing, and in this its his pardon.

The attraction for people to post on Hacker News is mainly to complain, and so in the first you get complaints the sentencing is too harsh, and in this one you get complaints that he shouldn't have been pardoned. Its not necessarily a cultural shift, just an artifact of the types of discussions people have online.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#742

Post by krisoft » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 2:14 PM UTC

constantcrying wrote: post #722

Here is what the discussion looked like almost a decade ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9626985 Very striking to see how the sentiment has drastically shifted, while the facts of the case did not. There is a really cultural shift visible in how this issue is seen on here.

> Very striking to see how the sentiment has drastically shifted

I'm not sure. I have two questions on that. Is there the appearance of a sentiment shift? I see plenty of people arguing both against and for incarcerating him in both this thread and that old one.

And then if there is an appearance of a sentiment change (which I'm not sure about) is that evidence of a sentiment change or just selection bias? People who are okay with an outcome are much less likely to write a comment than people who are upset. That alone would change the bias of the comments.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#743

Post by subjectsigma » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 2:15 PM UTC

The amount of doublethink, false-flagging, misinformation, and “looking the other way” in this thread is just absolutely disgusting.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#744

Post by etothet » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 2:18 PM UTC

wolfgang42 wrote: post #173

Tangentially related: I had the disconcerting experience of reading a Wired article about his arrest[1] while unknowingly sitting about six feet from the spot where he was apprehended. When I read that the FBI agents had stopped at Bello Coffee while preparing their stakeout, I thought, huh, interesting coincidence, I just had a coffee there. Then Ulbricht walked into the public library and sat down at the table dire…

It was almost you not you!

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#745

Post by smeeger » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 2:18 PM UTC

rescripting wrote: post #741

constantcrying wrote: post #722

Here is what the discussion looked like almost a decade ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9626985 Very striking to see how the sentiment has drastically shifted, while the facts of the case did not. There is a really cultural shift visible in how this issue is seen on here.

I'd be wary of drawing correlations like this. The people who commented on that thread are not going to be the same people commenting on this one. The topic isn't even the same; in the first thread the topic is his sentencing, and in this its his pardon. The attraction for people to post on Hacker News is mainly to complain, and so in the first you get complaints the sentencing is too harsh, and in this one you get c…

its crazy to look at this old thread and know that i almost certainly left a comment in it. although ive created and left behind hundreds of accounts in the meantime. i first got on HN feb 2015 when i read an article about “famed god” getting arrested in las vegas… his shirt had “hack the world” written on it and when i googled “hack the world famed god,” not knowing about the movie reference, it gave me a HN thread about the incident. and then HN became my home for almost ten years… i didnt have facebook or instagram or vine. i literally just spent all my time on HN. now that the displacement of programmers by AI has begun, somehow my interest has waned.

at the time, the murder for hire accusations seemed legitimate and they still do today. hopefully they charge him with attempted murder if the statute of limitations isnt up.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#746

Post by diggan » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 2:20 PM UTC

rescripting wrote: post #741

constantcrying wrote: post #722

Here is what the discussion looked like almost a decade ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9626985 Very striking to see how the sentiment has drastically shifted, while the facts of the case did not. There is a really cultural shift visible in how this issue is seen on here.

I'd be wary of drawing correlations like this. The people who commented on that thread are not going to be the same people commenting on this one. The topic isn't even the same; in the first thread the topic is his sentencing, and in this its his pardon. The attraction for people to post on Hacker News is mainly to complain, and so in the first you get complaints the sentencing is too harsh, and in this one you get c…

> The attraction for people to post on Hacker News is mainly to complain

I mean, I won't admit it openly but something like that yeah. It doesn't help either that the way to show you disagree is by sharing what you disagree with (which is great) but the way you show you agree is by upvoting (which others don't see).

So one comment with three complaints in the replies but 100 upvotes might look like "people wholeheartedly disagree with this person" but in reality, most readers actually agreed. Comments that are just "I agree" are kind of pointless, so I prefer how things are, but useful to not read too much into "X people said Y" on HN.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#747

Post by cess11 » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 2:21 PM UTC

immibis wrote: post #737

constantcrying wrote: post #722

Here is what the discussion looked like almost a decade ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9626985 Very striking to see how the sentiment has drastically shifted, while the facts of the case did not. There is a really cultural shift visible in how this issue is seen on here.

What I don't understand is why Donald Trump , of all people, is being lenient on drug traffickers.

Crypto commodity grifter gets known crypto commodity laundering expert out of jail.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#748

Post by Nevermark » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 2:22 PM UTC

immibis wrote: post #737

constantcrying wrote: post #722

Here is what the discussion looked like almost a decade ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9626985 Very striking to see how the sentiment has drastically shifted, while the facts of the case did not. There is a really cultural shift visible in how this issue is seen on here.

What I don't understand is why Donald Trump , of all people, is being lenient on drug traffickers.

There is a high correlation between his condemnation of drugs and characterizations of families, many poor and desperate, illegally crossing the border.

Most illegal drugs by far go through regular border crossings, but he hasn’t obsessed about them in the same way.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#749

Post by MisterTea » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 2:22 PM UTC

constantcrying wrote: post #722

Here is what the discussion looked like almost a decade ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9626985 Very striking to see how the sentiment has drastically shifted, while the facts of the case did not. There is a really cultural shift visible in how this issue is seen on here.

I see the same arguments: too harsh, not harsh enough, he tried to have people murdered, etc.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#750

Post by diggan » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 2:23 PM UTC

immibis wrote: post #737

constantcrying wrote: post #722

Here is what the discussion looked like almost a decade ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9626985 Very striking to see how the sentiment has drastically shifted, while the facts of the case did not. There is a really cultural shift visible in how this issue is seen on here.

What I don't understand is why Donald Trump , of all people, is being lenient on drug traffickers.

AFAIK, it wasn't done because he wants to be lenient on drug traffickers, but because the overall case of Ross Ulbricht is huge in certain political circles that he was pandering to during the presidential race, so seems he's "paying back" for those votes or something.