Comment by tptacek | Hacker News Reader

Comment by tptacek | Hacker News Reader

This is a great little piece, and I'm glad I saw it, and I wouldn't have seen it at all had it not been at the top of HN (despite the fact that most of what Mike Rowe writes somehow lands in my Fb feed), and I even agree with I think something like 98% of what it says.

But it still feels like an almost textbook example of what shouldn't be on the front page of HN.

Something Mike Rowe writes about the importance of the skilled trades, how they work, what the market for those people is like? Sure!

But this piece is really just about politics and current events. In this case: politics I don't find very challenging (despite being a Democrat). But still: it's only interesting if you know who the Koch Brothers are and what their role in US politics tends to be.

It would be neat if when things like this came up and got stuck to the front page, they could be replaced with something more important the same person wrote. Here, for example: same form, same author, basically the same content, without the horse-race political hook:

http://mikerowe.com/2016/02/stopignoringskillsgap/

I would argue that this post sets a great example for businesspeople. Sometimes in business you're going to come across someone with a strong reputation -- negative or positive -- and being able to understand them is important. So often we look at a reputation and base our actions and decisions on that, which I believe is inherently flawed.

We're all better off when different people can come together, understand each other, and work to make the world better, even if that's in a small way. So I think this is a great example of an HN post.

We'll see how much of the thread is about the skilled trades and how much of it is about the Koch Brothers role in horse-race US politics, and then we'll revisit.

I don't think that the direction of the discussion necessarily imbues the value of an HN post. I also don't think that the skilled trades themselves were the focus of the post; rather, the focus was on what the Koch Brothers did for his foundation, and how it contrasts with their reputation.

As a non-American, I found this interesting. Pretty much the only thing I hear about the Kochs here in Canada is "evil oil tycoons".

And I think the underlying message of "your opponents aren't literally devils incarnate" could do with being repeated a bit more often -- not just here but in every online forum.

Maybe this should be an "Ask HN" post, but.

This post appears to have disappeared from the front page (and the several following pages), despite its far higher upvote/recency combination than most other front page stories.

Is there a way to see some kind of record of the moderation decision, or flagging algorithm, that caused this to happen?

Semi-informed guess: It was likely tagged by some moderator either for being controversial or insubstantive or both.

Shame, because I think Mike Rowe is a true hacker - and this is one of his more interesting hacks.

Ah well!

I too agree that this post deserves to be on front page on HN.

I am an Indian. The first time I came to know about Koch brother when I watched "News Room" show. In which they where depicted as nothing but evil business men.

After reading this post, do I think they are kind hearted, good-doing business men? Not exactly. But it intrigue me to read more about their works rather than assuming they are selfish minded, evil business men.

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