There's relevant news in some of these Uber stories, but there's also a growing problem in these threads: outrage escalation in which people vie with one another to say ever worse things about an object of hatred. This comment exemplifies this while taking it to a new low.

This is not driven by newfound passion for taxi regulation. It is an internet variant of mob behavior. It triggers an opposing mob of people who like the thing, hating the people who hate the thing. Each side gives the other reason to feel aggrieved. We're past the stage where people throw twigs onto the fire and are about at the point where they're dragging in furniture.

When a topic mechanically induces users into violating Hacker News' values in this way, we penalize that topic. It's a poor solution, but the alternative is worse, and civil and substantive discussion is largely impossible in such threads anyway.

Obviously, we'd rather not penalize the Uber stories. To avoid this, we need everyone to take pains to edit this reflexive outrage out of each comment you post, regardless of the position it takes.

1. If the comment has been flagkilled again, the gist is that it relishes the idea of physical violence against Uber executives. To read the original, turn "showdead" on in your profile.

If anything, aren't the established interests fighting to keep the old taxi medallion system in place an actual example of crony capitalism?