Why on earth are both of you getting downvoted so hard?
I am so tired of reading hacker news articles with comments that are so pushed down because of subjective opinionated voting that is so obviously skewed towards one personality type.
I have so many thoughts and opinions I want to contribute to these discussions but I have zero confidence it will fit within this type of environment that's been created.
It really saddens me to see some of the comments that get downvoted here.
First, I didn't call it a burden so you can't exactly quote me as having said that. But it's cool, it is a pain in the ass so go for it.
Second, I don't think America is a "homogeneous mass that behaves that way" and neither did I say that. I said that this (getting to hear long-winded rants about political views, religion, social issues, etc.) occurs constantly when I'm in the US. You've confused my statement of anecdotal evidence as a statement of all encompassing truth. It isn't. I don't believe the majority of Americans are like this. I just think (note that word: think, not know, it's my opinion) you have a significant portion of people that are like this, are quite vocal about it, and aren't overly tolerant of differing opinions.
Third, I'm not confused and no simultaneously differing viewpoints are rolling around in my brain either. I didn't state my own opinions on the matter of Obama, capitalism, universal health care (bet you can guess where I stand on that one though), I merely stated MY experiences with the opinions of Americans I had ran into while traveling. Yes, you relected Obama. Cheers. 48.97% of people that voted didn't vote for Obama. Maybe the people I'm referring to are a subset of them, no?
I find HN to be quite rich, in both content and discussions about said content. I don't post because I usually don't have anything significant to add to the conversation.
I have to say though, your comment deeply disturbs me. Those weren't poisonous words. And I highly doubt that his comment, which seems quite informative, comes from his "dreams of a world made of slaves".
I can tell you're American. Constantly when I travel to the US, I get spoon fed this bullshit when people find out I'm Canadian. I have literally - on more than one occasion - had people tell me how they couldn't live in a "socialist" country like Canada. They then proceed to educate me (without any indication I want to hear shit about their opinions or beliefs) on the benefits of capitalism, how Obama is enslaving America, how universal health care is freedom lessening crap, and so on. It blows my mind the level of intolerance and subtle hatred.
He's just being part of the discussion, providing opposing information and some of his opinions. Chill the fuck out.