I think the light moderation style of HN is really great, and one of the reasons this is a space I like to come back to. Since you mention reddit, the vast majority of communities show in great variety and detail the pitfalls of moderation. Moderating a large community is already really difficult with the best of intentions, introducing more and more vague rules is only going to make it harder.

Since you mention politics in particular, it would be close to impossible to define an adequate boundary of what constitutes politics, and what is tech / lifestyle / entertainment; all 3 categories I think could also describe the thread on /r/antiwork.