In other words, a place focused on particular subjects (technology, programming, science) collects people with similar life experiences, interests, worldviews, etc.
Why don't we just admit that this whole post is just a response to offense at a single post getting bopped off the front page because of a flamewar, when some people really want it on the front page? It's a lot easier when we aren't tippy-toeing around the actual issue.
Sure, the problems of that post were symptomatic of the broader social algorithms of HN, but I don't think they mean HN's rules and the underlying enforcement patterns are inherently wrong. They just didn't work well in this particular case.
Why don't we just admit that this whole post is just a response to offense at a single post
But it isn't, though - the post you replied to was specifically discussing that. The OP said:
a place focused on particular subjects [...] collects people with similar life experiences, interests, worldviews, etc.
which makes it sound very much like people from different backgrounds are going to face social rejection. If we're fine with that then so be it, but some of us would like to imagine we are more inclusive, and that as a community we could do more. The fact that tech keeps trying to portray itself as a pure meritocracy doesn't help.
The "similar life experiences, interests, worldviews" really refers to being in the IT industry, especially on the startup side of things. I don't think gender or race issues are nearly as much a cause for exclusion here as, say, being a restauranteur rather than a programmer would be.
Tech may not be a pure meritocracy, but it's far closer to one than most fields, and most of the discrimination I've seen has come from management, not programmers. Female and non-white engineers are regarded for their capabilities first and foremost.
I was just discussing this yesterday with my daughter. She's studying to be a teacher, and is deeply involved with social justice issues (I credit her with improving my sensitivity on gender, which was already pretty good). I was talking about how I go back and forth a bit on what I can or should do to encourage African-American teens to go into IT. One of the advantages that I perceive is that it's the source of a good, secure middle class living with very little racial discrimination relative to other fields. But the disadvantage is that there's very little African-American participation in the industry. I come down on the side of encouragement because we need pioneers, and because good middle-class security is becoming harder to come by in America.
But to get back to the original point - the cultural divide around here isn't really about gender or race, which is the point of the OP's essay.
That explains some of it, but I think it's even a narrower focus than that. I participate in several communities that are broadly technology/programming/science, and they're quite different from HN (and from each other). For one thing, my impression is that there are relatively few scientists and engineers on HN. I occasionally will see a post by a biologist or a civil engineer, but it's not typical. Even among computer people, it seems like a particular social subset, perhaps due to being hosted by Y Combinator.
I think the pro-capitalist bias comes from the fact that a lot of people here are entrepreneurial. The site is hosted by a company that funds startups.
The libertarian part? I'm not so sure there, but I'd guess that it comes from a sense of "I'm just trying to build my business, it'd be awesome if a bunch of silly regulations and crap would get out of my way"
Productive people with real skills are part of that fraction of humankind who make stuff that others want, and don't sponge off their fellows. As such, they tend to be in support of political and economic freedom, and against socialism and redistributions.
