Hacker News with Generative AI: Social Commentary

America will collapse by 2025 (2010) (salon.com)
A soft landing for America 40 years from now? Don't bet on it. The demise of the United States as the global superpower could come far more quickly than anyone imagines. If Washington is dreaming of 2040 or 2050 as the end of the American Century, a more realistic assessment of domestic and global trends suggests that in 2025, just 15 years from now, it could all be over except for the shouting.
Politics, Social Commentary, Future Predictions, USA
37 points by inverted_flag 5 days ago | 65 comments
Leave Billionaires Alone (m-onz.net)
"Money, money, money. It's so funny. In a rich man's world."
Wealth Inequality, Social Commentary, Economics
21 points by timothygold 6 days ago | 18 comments
We Live Like Royalty and Don't Know It (thenewatlantis.com)
At the rehearsal dinner I began thinking about Thomas Jefferson’s ink. My wife and I were at a fancy destination wedding on a faraway island in the Pacific Northwest. Around us were musicians, catered food, a full bar, and chandeliers, all set against a superb ocean sunset. Not for the first time, I was thinking about how amazing it is that relatively ordinary middle-class Americans could afford such events — on special occasions, at least.
Wealth, Privilege, Lifestyle, Social Commentary
39 points by Luc 9 days ago | 12 comments
Terence Tao on the Ongoing Process of "Enshittification" (mathstodon.xyz)
Mathematics, Social Commentary, Internet Culture
9 points by yo_yo_yo-yo 9 days ago | 0 comments
What We're Fighting For (wheresyoured.at)
A great deal of what I write feels like narrating the end of the world — watching as the growth-at-all-costs, hyper-financialized Rot Economy seemingly tarnishes every corner of our digital lives. My core frustration isn't just how shitty things have gotten, but how said shittiness has become so profitable for so many companies.
Technology, Social Commentary, Business, Ethics
35 points by dzogchen 9 days ago | 5 comments
The Mythology of Work (2018) (crimethinc.com)
What if nobody worked? Sweatshops would empty out and assembly lines would grind to a halt, at least the ones producing things no one would make voluntarily. Telemarketing would cease. Despicable individuals who only hold sway over others because of wealth and title would have to learn better social skills. Traffic jams would come to an end; so would oil spills. Paper money and job applications would be used as fire starter as people reverted to barter and sharing.
Philosophy, Economics, Social Commentary
68 points by robtherobber 10 days ago | 96 comments
The Attraction of Homelessness (2009) (nytimes.com)
FOR nearly 13 years between 1994 and 2007, I wandered the streets of New York, a nomad in the town where I was born in 1949.
Homelessness, Personal Essay, Social Commentary, Memoir
13 points by bookofjoe 12 days ago | 5 comments
Welcome to 2030. I own nothing, have no privacy, and life has never been better (medium.com)
Welcome to the year 2030. Welcome to my city — or should I say, “our city”. I don’t own anything. I don’t own a car. I don’t own a house. I don’t own any appliances or any clothes.
Future, Technology, Social Commentary, Privacy
6 points by an_guy 13 days ago | 0 comments
Can you resist all the addictions modern life throws at you? Only if you're rich (theguardian.com)
Freedom from the temptations pushed at us on a daily basis is now a class issue
Addiction, Class Inequality, Social Commentary
18 points by 47thpresident 19 days ago | 16 comments
The bro-ligarchs have a vision for the new Trump term (vox.com)
The real reason Musk, Zuckerberg, and Bezos are supporting Trump.
Politics, Technology, Social Commentary
49 points by throw0101a 19 days ago | 15 comments
Ask HN: Why are we all pretending everything is normal? (ycombinator.com)
I know we’re supposed to be tech focused but I see no posts regarding the situation at large. No tech, no innovation can really grow or come about if this keeps going. Those of us who have grown up with relative freedom and the room to innovate owe it to those coming up to do something? The system isn’t perfect, but what is happening will make it worse. What can be done?
Politics, Society, Social Commentary, Current Events
32 points by bigmattystyles 20 days ago | 24 comments
Most "Investing" Is Just Speculation (vincentschmalbach.com)
The words people choose often reveal more about how they want to be perceived than what they're actually doing. Take the term "investing" - it implies not just sophistication and careful analysis, but also suggests a contribution to economic growth and societal progress.
Finance, Semantics, Investing, Social Commentary
8 points by vincent_s 21 days ago | 5 comments
When Futurism Led to Fascism–and Why It Could Happen Again (2019) (wired.com)
In 1909, a poet named Filippo Marinetti was driving along in his brand new Fiat when he came across two cyclists in the road.
Fascism, History, Futurism, Politics, Social Commentary
19 points by pera 22 days ago | 2 comments
Our phones are killing our ability to feel sexy (2024) (catherineshannon.substack.com)
Scrolling on our phones is killing us. This is a statement of fact that needs no citation (besides, research isn’t really my thing). The massive suck of our phones and the never-ending, algorithmically-driven internet has been covered at greater length by better-informed writers. We all know our phones are destroying our attention spans, our dopamine reward systems, our relationships. We know they’re numbing our feelings and experiences. That’s all I’ll say about the general badness of phones and the internet.
Technology, Social Commentary, Digital Addiction, Psychology
237 points by marban 23 days ago | 233 comments
"Reign of terror over: My weird weekend partying with the triumphant tech right" (theguardian.com)
As Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg gathered for Trump’s inauguration, crypto diehards and members of the Paypal Mafia celebrated a new era for the Magaverse
Politics, Technology, Social Commentary
14 points by slater 27 days ago | 1 comments
Zuckerberg thinks workplaces need to 'man up' − why that's bad for all employees (theconversation.com)
When Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared on a Jan. 10, 2025, episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” he lamented that corporate culture had become too “feminine,” suppressing its “masculine energy” and abandoning supposedly valuable traits such as aggression.
Workplace Culture, Gender, Business Leadership, Social Commentary
6 points by rntn 29 days ago | 1 comments
Ask HN: Good articles or books to understand the current zeitgeist? (ycombinator.com)
My classical liberal outlook (with maybe a propensity to support higher quality regulations) has been seriously rocked over the past few years culminating of course in the elections last year and the outlooks of elections to come (Trump, FPÖ, AfD, etc.)
Politics, Social Commentary, Current Events, Political Philosophy
11 points by bdhe 30 days ago | 16 comments
Neveragain.tech (neveragain.tech)
The tech industry's silence this time around is deafening.
Tech Industry, Social Commentary, Silence, Current Events
4 points by Kye 30 days ago | 0 comments
After Authenticity (2018) (subpixel.space)
Has it occurred to you that nobody talks about sellouts anymore?
Culture, Authenticity, Social Commentary, Online Discourse
36 points by antoviaque 32 days ago | 8 comments
What is there left to believe in? (noahpinion.blog)
On their way out the door, the Biden administration made one more bizarre, inexplicable mistake. This Friday, both Biden and Kamala Harris tweeted declarations that the Equal Rights Amendment, which was proposed in the 1970s but never ratified, was “the law of the land”.
Politics, Law, Social Commentary
23 points by paulpauper 32 days ago | 22 comments
The tech oligarchy has been here for years (bloodinthemachine.com)
In Biden’s long, weary, and largely perfunctory farewell speech, one section has stood out:
Politics, Technology, Social Commentary
19 points by leotravis10 33 days ago | 32 comments
De-Muskifier: Firefox add-on to replace all instances of Elon Musk with raccoons (mozilla.org)
This browser extension replaces mentions of Elon Musk, SpaceX, Tesla, and related terms with cute raccoons and raccoon factoids.
Firefox Add-ons, Browser Extensions, Humor, Elon Musk, Social Commentary
54 points by thunderbong 35 days ago | 39 comments
Observation: HN turns into infomercials around when Californians start working (ycombinator.com)
Observation: HN turns into infomercials around when Californians start working
Hacker News, California, Work Culture, Social Commentary
15 points by lysace 36 days ago | 14 comments
The cod-Marxism of personalized pricing (pluralistic.net)
The social function of the economics profession is to explain, over and over again, that your boss is actually right and that you don't really want the things you want, and you're secretly happy to be abused by the system. If that wasn't true, why would your "choose" commercial surveillance, abusive workplaces and other depredations?
Economics, Social Commentary, Capitalism, Inequality
11 points by lapcat 41 days ago | 2 comments
Bureaucracy Isn't Measured in Bureaucrats (astralcodexten.com)
An old tweet from Vivek Ramaswamy, now co-head of the Department of Government Efficacy:
Bureaucracy, Government, Politics, Social Commentary
6 points by feross 43 days ago | 0 comments
Yeah, America can still build stuff (jabberwocking.com)
Marc Dunkelman has a new book coming out next month called Why Nothing Works. His thesis is that America once did big things but now seems stuck—and much of it is the fault of progressives:
Politics, USA, Social Commentary, Book Reviews
28 points by leotravis10 45 days ago | 25 comments
Stay Gold, America (codinghorror.com)
We are at an unprecedented point in American history, and I'm concerned we may lose sight of the American Dream.
Politics, Culture, Social Commentary
19 points by nikbackm 45 days ago | 1 comments
Stay Gold, America (codinghorror.com)
We are at an unprecedented point in American history, and I'm concerned we may lose sight of the American Dream.
Politics, Social Commentary, United States
194 points by joanwestenberg 45 days ago | 224 comments
End Times: Elites, Counter-Elites, and the Path of Political Disintegration (amazon.com)
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Politics, Sociology, Social Commentary, History
5 points by vogu66 48 days ago | 0 comments
"Oh, Jean Baudrillard, how the rock-kickers sneered at you back in the day." (mastodon.social)
Philosophy, Social Commentary, History
4 points by pavel_lishin 49 days ago | 0 comments