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Comment by paddw | Hacker News Reader

If someone tried to do political journalism like Hunter S. Thompson today, they would struggle to find the same sort of characters, because the Internet has collectively made us much more cautious about and accountable for how we interact with others.

Present literary journalistic techniques critique through insinuation and juxtaposition. HST just had to go places and let people talk.

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HST once gave his press badge on the Muskie campaign train in Florida to a random miscreant he met while out drinking[0], who then the next day went on to terrorize everyone on the train, ordering things at the press bar like a "triple Gin Buck without the Buck", manhandling reporters and the campaign cheerleader girls. At a whistle-stop speech, he stood in the front, heckled Muskie, grabbing his leg and yelling for more gin. He did a lot more than just "go to places and let people talk.". I think a lot of his genius for reporting came from how he involved himself in the lives of those he wrote about, combined with a rare knack for words and dedication to the craft of writing.

[0] Described by HST as "I listened for a moment and recognized the Neal Cassady speed-booze-acid rap - a wild combination of menace, madness, genius, and fragmented coherence that wreaks havoc on the mind of any listener... so I knew we had no choice but to take this man along with us... he had that rare weird electricity about him - that extremely wild & heavy presence that you only see in a person who has abandoned all hope of ever behaving 'normally'."

Never has there been a more vast and diverse set of weirdos in America and they have never been easier to find. Talk to me about "cautious" and "accountable" after you've been to a Furry convention, a gathering of the Juggalos, a Burner event, a Phish show and a couple sex parties.

Totally agree. Hunter S. Thompson would just be a substack writer with a small following.

Conversely, I am sure there are many substack writers with a small following who would be just as big as Thompson if they were born at a different time.

Not only has media changed but the entire relationship of society with media has changed.

I would compare it to Adele being the only artist in the last 15 years to be on the best-selling album chart and probably wouldn't be there at all if she was 10 years older.

Easier to find, but probably harder to talk to. I think it's not a coincidence that several of the subcultures you list above involve dressing in costumes. I'm sure part of that is immersing oneself in the culture, but there's also an element of anonymity that people value. At least some of this is a result of Thompson's influence on the culture.

These people will talk your ear off. One of the hallmarks of modern counterculture is inclusion, which is in stark contrast to the HST era where there was a much greater risk to being part of many countercultures, and so much more fear of outsiders.

As far an anonymity, I think people pick a particular blend that works for them and their career and family. But most people I know are pretty forward about their stranger/kinkier/less legal interests, at least on an interpersonal level.

Ironically, a friend of mine once attended a furry convention while dressed as Hunter S. Thompson.

I'm not sure what point this is meant to make; you'll have to come up with your own.

> the Internet has collectively made us much more cautious about and accountable for how we interact with others.

That's a pretty shocking claim. I'd say it's quite the opposite.

It's a mixed bag. Everything you do IRL gets photographed and uploaded by your friends without your consent for future potential employers to scour through, Twitter becoming the whole world's HR department, your name, address and employer readily available with a Google search, etc.

I basically don't post too many opinions unless I'm on an alt account, and I'm considering tor for that going forward.

There's a give and take here. As more people are bold about how they express themselves, companies inevitably become more accepting of different types of expression. I've seen a massive shift from the 80's to today in what's acceptable for different types of jobs. There is always some risk for being on the edge of that trend, and we should be grateful to those who take those risks for making it easier for the rest of us.

A mixed bag? Is there anywhere in the history of humanity with more extreme and unaccountable behavior than the Internet?

It's about equally extreme in the level of accountability as well (for better or worse).

People do horrible things on the Internet without accountability all the time.

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