Hacker News with Generative AI: Social Issues

We Should Let a Lottery Decide Our Government (2019) (thewalrus.ca)
Politicians are often older, wealthy, and white. Could randomly selecting average citizens lead to better representation?
Politics, Democracy, Representation, Social Issues
63 points by Tomte 2 days ago | 78 comments
Oregon spent funds meant for addiction services on prosecutors, police gadgets (theguardian.com)
The state of Oregon, which has long struggled with one of the worst drug-addiction crises in the US, last year announced $20m in grants to help connect people to substance-use services.
Addiction, Law Enforcement, Public Spending, Oregon, Social Issues
28 points by c420 4 days ago | 7 comments
Attack of the Sadistic Zombies – Paul Krugman (paulkrugman.substack.com)
Republicans in Congress, taking their marching orders from Donald Trump, are on track to enact a hugely regressive budget — big tax giveaways to the wealthy combined with cruel cuts in programs that serve lower-income Americans.
Politics, Economics, Social Issues
82 points by rbanffy 4 days ago | 23 comments
An Efilist Just Bombed a Fertility Clinic. Was This Bound to Happen? (default.blog)
On Saturday morning, a parked SUV exploded outside the American Reproductive Centers fertility clinic, killing its driver and wounding at least four bystanders.
Violence, Fertility, Medical, Crime, Social Issues
74 points by starkparker 5 days ago | 138 comments
'Unauthorized' change to Grok made it blather on about 'White genocide' (theregister.com)
Elon Musk's xAI has apologized after its Grok generative chat-bot started spouting baseless conspiracy theories about White genocide in response to unrelated questions.
Generative AI, Conspiracy Theories, Artificial Intelligence, Social Issues
13 points by gizzlon 5 days ago | 5 comments
It's Not Just a Feeling: Data Shows Boys and Young Men Are Falling Behind (nytimes.com)
Boys and young men are struggling. Across their lives — in their educational achievement, mental health and transitions to adulthood — there are warning signs that they are falling behind, even as their female peers surge ahead.
Education, Gender, Mental Health, Social Issues
18 points by jnord 7 days ago | 6 comments
The Problem with Teens Isn't Smartphones–It's Their Families (grimoiremanor.substack.com)
The last 5 years, if not more, has seen the US and other countries like the UK gripped by the narrative that there’s a youth mental health crisis.
Family, Social Issues
69 points by illinx 7 days ago | 63 comments
Grok answers unrelated queries with long paragraphs about "white genocide" (twitter.com)
Something went wrong, but don’t fret — let’s give it another shot.
Generative AI, AI Bias, Social Issues
273 points by Fraterkes 9 days ago | 113 comments
Phones Aren't the Problem – Consumption Is (anandsanwal.me)
Banning phones in schools is a hot topic right now — and for many, probably most, schools, it makes sense. Traditional schools, focused on compliance and memorization, see phones as distractions.
Education, Technology, Social Issues
4 points by herbertl 10 days ago | 0 comments
Alone Together: Disconnection Is Our Generation's Black Death (josef.cn)
The Black Death killed 100 million people in the 14th century. It’s happening again. Just like back then, none of us seem to know why.
Social Issues, Technology, Generational Differences
17 points by josefchen 12 days ago | 8 comments
Tech oligarchs are gambling our future on a fantasy (theguardian.com)
It’s tempting to believe that tech billionaires’ embrace of Donald Trump and the far right is a sudden rupture with the usual political ideology of Silicon Valley.
Politics, Technology, Social Issues, Inequality
12 points by saubeidl 18 days ago | 0 comments
A Fifth of American Adults Can't Read (thefp.com)
Forty-eight million adults in the U.S. read at or below the third-grade level, and many of them struggle in ways that are almost impossible for a fluent reader to imagine: They can’t order off a menu, check in for a telehealth appointment, or fill out a job application.
Literacy, Education, USA, Social Issues
23 points by harambae 19 days ago | 5 comments
The Tragic Story Behind the Infamous '4 Children for Sale' Photograph (2023) (allthatsinteresting.com)
In one of perhaps the most distressing and shocking images ever captured of 20th-century America, a young mother hides her head in shame as her four children huddle together, perplexed looks on their faces. At the forefront of the photo, in large, bold letters, a sign reads, “4 Children For Sale, Inquire Within.”
History, Photography, Social Issues, Poverty
21 points by kolanos 20 days ago | 5 comments
Tech oligarchs are gambling our future on a fantasy (theguardian.com)
It’s tempting to believe that tech billionaires’ embrace of Donald Trump and the far right is a sudden rupture with the usual political ideology of Silicon Valley.
Politics, Technology, Social Issues
11 points by rolph 20 days ago | 2 comments
In the US, not even $11,000 a month can buy you dignity at the end of your life (theguardian.com)
After watching my father’s struggle in a system that values profit over compassion, I wonder: how much longer will we accept a future where most of us lose our sense of human worth in old age?
Healthcare, Social Issues, Aging, United States
37 points by howard941 22 days ago | 29 comments
The federal minimum wage is officially a poverty wage in 2025 (epi.org)
In 2025, the federal minimum wage is officially a “poverty wage.” The annual earnings of a single adult working full-time, year-round at $7.25 an hour now fall below the poverty threshold of $15,650 (established by the Department of Health and Human Services guidelines). The limitations of how the federal government calculates poverty understate how far the minimum wage is from economic security for workers and their families.
Minimum Wage, Poverty, Economics, Social Issues
86 points by MaysonL 23 days ago | 73 comments
A Love Letter to People Who Believe in People (swiss-miss.com)
When I was eight, I made a big, hand-drawn poster that said, “Do you want to join my fan club?” and put it up in the small Swiss town where I grew up.
Personal Essays, Community, Social Issues
396 points by NaOH 29 days ago | 124 comments
Out of the Fog (theverge.com)
Operation Babylift was an earnest attempt to save children during the fall of Saigon. Decades later, a generation of adoptees wrestles with the aftermath.
Vietnam War, Adoption, History, Social Issues, Personal Stories
149 points by wapasta 32 days ago | 34 comments
kurzgesagt: South Korea's demographic issue is killing their country [video] (youtu.be)
South Korea, Demographics, Population, Social Issues, Video
30 points by maxloh 33 days ago | 25 comments
An EdTech Tragedy (afterbabel.com)
In The Anxious Generation, we focused on the emergence of the adolescent mental health crisis that began in the early 2010s. However, since the book’s publication one year ago, we have learned even more about worrisome trends in education that closely mirror those in mental health: after decades of stability or gradual improvement, test scores in the U.S. and around the world began declining notably in the 2010s.
Education, Mental Health, Social Issues, Trends
5 points by jruohonen 34 days ago | 0 comments
Eugenics Isn't Dead–It's Thriving in Tech (motherjones.com)
Elon Musk’s calls for a so-called “efficient” US government—including wanting to end the already endangered right to work from home, a disability accommodation for many—are less surprising when you view him as a techno-eugenicist.
Technology, Ethics, Politics, Social Issues
18 points by Qem 36 days ago | 11 comments
Top Most Challenged Books of 2024 (ala.org)
CHICAGO – The American Library Association (ALA) today released the highly anticipated Top 10 Most Challenged Books List as part of the 2025 State of America’s Libraries Report that highlights the ways libraries continue to meet the needs of their communities amid challenges to intellectual freedom.
Book Censorship, Libraries, Intellectual Freedom, Social Issues
12 points by hn_acker 37 days ago | 3 comments
NY immigrants are receiving grim email: 'It is time for you to leave' (gothamist.com)
Immigration, New York, Politics, Social Issues
12 points by righthand 38 days ago | 0 comments
Pregnant Women Are Losing Access to Care, Formula and Shelter (forbes.com)
Elon Musk has long claimed civilization will collapse unless we raise the birth rate. Meanwhile, his “DOGE” group is slashing billions in funding for pregnant and nursing mothers and their children.
Pregnancy, Social Issues, Economics, Elon Musk, Politics
15 points by rendx 38 days ago | 2 comments
Homeless in Colorado may sleep in their cars if they have a job (nytimes.com)
On the side of a highway leading to some of the most coveted slopes in the world, in a parking lot covered in snow, a form of affordable housing has emerged.
Homelessness, Housing, Colorado, Social Issues, Economy
25 points by harambae 40 days ago | 7 comments
How to deal with Billionaires (currentaffairs.org)
In the United States today, it’s pretty obvious that billionaires run the show.
Politics, Economics, Social Issues
13 points by derelicta 41 days ago | 1 comments
Are porn algorithms feeding a generation of paedophiles – or creating one? (theguardian.com)
More than 850 men a month are arrested for online child abuse offences in England and Wales. They come from every walk of life: teachers, police officers, doctors, TV presenters. And the numbers are rising every year. How did this happen?
Child Abuse, Online Crime, Social Issues, Technology
43 points by sandebert 48 days ago | 64 comments
South Korea Is Over – Population Bomb [video] (youtube.com)
South Korea, Demographics, Population, Social Issues, Video
9 points by tntpreneur 49 days ago | 0 comments
American shakedown: Police won't charge you, but they'll grab your money (cbc.ca)
Across America, law enforcement officers — from federal agents to state troopers right down to sheriffs in one-street backwaters — are operating a vast, co-ordinated scheme to grab as much of the public’s cash as they can; “hand over fist,” to use the words of one police trainer.
Law Enforcement, Corruption, Social Issues, Politics, USA
17 points by croes 51 days ago | 13 comments
How Working-Class Life Is Killing Americans, in Charts (2020) (nytimes.com)
When the economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton first published their research on “deaths of despair” five years ago, they focused on middle-aged whites.
Social Issues, Health, Economics, United States
6 points by rawgabbit 53 days ago | 1 comments