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Comment by screye | Hacker News Reader

On the other hand, I feel like it takes an incredibly public tragedy for a platform for HN to tolerate any discussions around SF crime.

People want to talk about crime, drugs & homelessness all the time. It is only in high profile cases where the issues seem topical, that HN can't discourage discussion around them.

> quasi-apocalyptic worldview re: some American cities

I don't see why speaking out about lack of police enforcement is seen as 'quasi-apocalyptic'.

> despite all available data contradicting that worldview

All available data is in favor of those speaking out about crime & drugs in west coast cities. Additionally, the eye test seems to portray a situation that's more dire than even the data might suggest. (underreporting, catch & release).

View on HN

> People want to talk about crime, drugs & homelessness all the time. It is only in high profile cases where the issues seem topical, that HN can't discourage discussion around them.

Indeed, because that's not what this forum is for. There's ten thousand fora online for general, local, or city-policy political discussion; those topics are only germane in this forum when they relate to tech or the processes of tech.

Because HN is a technology discussion board with a worldwide audience, not a local politics one. YCombinator isn't even based in SF.

When the CEO of YCombinator blocks people on Twitter for disagreeing with him online on SF politics[0], it tells me I don't want HN to be a haven for that.

[0]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32639125

I wouldn't really take who YCombinator execs have blocked with much of an indication of anything. It's a badge of honor to be blocked by Paul Graham over something silly and petty.

It's indicative of the exec's desire to actually engage on a topic with people who might disagree with them. That's a big issue with how much control they can potentially exert on this site.

I'm referring to blocking people specifically over SF politics, as per his own comment, linked to above.

FWIW, he mass blocks people who have _never_ interacted with him on twitter. If you happen to like a tweet from an account that he doesn't like, you're blocked!

I get that people need to protect their feeds for their mental health, but I'd expect a public figure to have thicker skin and not default to hitting the scorched-earth-mega-auto-block button so often.

> platform for HN to tolerate any discussions around SF crime.

I think we all live in our own bubbles, because I see so much discussion of SF crime.

I also think it's important to note that there is a huge difference between "should we prevent random street killings?" and "how much effort should SFPD exert to protect cars when the majority of actual SF residents don't even own one?"

EDIT: Just to cite my sources: [0] shows 397k registered cars in SF [1] shows 810k residents.

[0] https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv-research-reports/research-...

[1] https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/sanfranciscocit...

18% of that 810k is under 18.

397k for 664k adults means a 59.8% car ownership rate.

I think it is important to note that police do not only protect adult residents.

>I also think it's important to note that there is a huge difference between "should we prevent random street killings?" and "how much effort should SFPD exert to protect cars when the majority of actual SF residents don't even own one?"

Hmm, the vast majority of tourists in Orlando aren't Orlando residents, but if I got murdered back in my hotel on a Disneyworld trip, I would hope they'd be willing to at least poke into it.

Again, I agree murders are important to discuss, but it is not a good idea to talk about smash and grabs like they are murders.

Yes, it's common for one and the same topic to be perceived as both hideously overrepresented and hideously underrepresented on HN.

Even the very most popular stories get perceived as being suppressed—for a striking example see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35296170.

Just to reinforce what you say here

> I think we all live in our own bubbles, because I see so much discussion of SF crime.

As a European on this platform it's ceaseless whinging about the state of SF and how the "woke mob" are ruining San Francisco and the state of the Tenderloin versus Mission or Market or whatever and I don't particularly care to know.

Like I've started to learn the parts of a city I have no particular interest in visiting from repeated stories about how someone shouted and pooped in the street because of boogeyman de jour.

Definitely feels like maybe YC could make a "local HN" to save the rest of us from these circular discussions.

I appreciate you saying so. As a 20-year SF resident I wondered if it was just confirmation bias making me think those topics/views were incredibly common. But it's at the point where I'd almost rather deal with Bitcoin boosters.

You must have some filter on. There are literally thousands of HN posts in the last few years about housing and crime and hundreds of which devolved into the dystopian hellhole memes endemic in the HN ideosphere.

The quickest path to karma at HN is to post anything about BA housing.

Crime - and SF crime specifically - frequently gets discussed on HN when crime-related stories make it to the front page. You're not paying attention if you think the site has a zero-tolerance policy for it.

What does "SF crime" have to do with the content that is expected on hackernews?

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