It is very ironic you mention class struggle. You belong to the class of HN users who have the right to down-vote comments. I do not. You use your class' prerogative to down-vote my comments, in an attempt to censor my thoughts. Not because they are inappropriate, but merely because you disagree with them. Talk about class struggle!
I didn't down vote you so I can't speak for the down voters, but I think HN's compromises to prevent fake accounts from having more power than proven ones are not relevant to this discussion.
Class struggle means something much more real than imaginary internet points inside the HN echo chamber. It means a struggle for quality of life and social dignity against establishment forces, and what the value of hard work is in our society. Even though I've worked hard and come from a lower income family, as a white american male who's parents stayed together and worked hard for me, who got into a charter high school, who got financial aid in college it means more than I can truly appreciate.
If this comment is down voted, it's probably for equating those two things (or just generally for complaining about being down voted, which people don't generally like)
"You use your class' prerogative to down-vote my comments, in an attempt to censor my thoughts. Not because they are inappropriate, but merely because you disagree with them. Talk about class struggle!"
Your comments are generally civil and thoughtful. I completely understand your frustration at being down voted, and unfortunately there are some users here (on any side of any contentious issue), that do down vote because they disagree, and there have been comments (including Paul Graham) that support the idea of using down votes to show disagreement. I also have seen that a lot of people don't agree with this practice.
That said, I don't think calling out your parent for down voting you is constructive. For one, voting is anonymous. And the fact that you're engaging on the site indicates to me that you actually want to have a conversation. Accusing someone of censoring you is only going to be inflammatory.
It's not fair, I know. Keep fighting the good fight. Keep posting civil and thoughtful comments. Work to understand and be understood. Help keep HN a good place for useful discussion.
By the way, I'm writing this as much for you as for me. I'm reminding myself of how I want to engage. There's so much acrimony and polarization. Figuring out ways to reach compromise and agreement is crucial.
Thanks for taking the time to read through this :)
I think you are right, and I apologize to @mattnewton for accusing him of downvoting me, without factual proof. I will not erase my comment because I think his response and yours are valuable.
I agree. It's really useful to see how discourse can (and some times can't :/) work. You might want to consider adding an "Edit: see follow-up comment" to call attention to it, but given it's proximity, it's probably not necessary.
Btw, are you familiar with Jonathan Haidt's "The Righteous Mind"? Given the topic, I think you might find it interesting.
