I am sure HNers have no problem discussing politics where it directly effected them - that's news. But where it effects others 'that's just politics'.
This is relevant because it is related to your / our actions. It is relevant because these 'bad' things are actually related. There was a time when we in the western world could claim ignorance.
And the reason he gets under your nose is he is a self described polemicist.
> Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, ... unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon.
Yes, he's a political polemicist, hence shouldn't be on HN. I wouldn't want to see a Fox News columnist on here either. (I don't like extreme politics of any shade. Yes, he is extreme, even if you agree with him.)
A serious discussion of how tantalum's use in electronics is damaging to the people of Congo would be appropriate, this is not.
That is one thing I like about monbiot, he references his work. I check his facts. Not all polemicists are the same. I have never seen a fox 'journalist' reference facts.
When a polemicist references another polemicist does that count as facts? I watched the "Story of Stuff" referenced in his article in a class this semester. At one point the claim was made that Chinese peasants are being “forced” into cities and leaving a lifestyle “that has sustained them for generations”. That’s not even a remotely balanced take on the situation. Urbanization in China has lifted millions of people out of grinding poverty.
I am sure HNers have no problem discussing politics where it directly effected them - that's news. But where it effects others 'that's just politics'.
This is relevant because it is related to your / our actions. It is relevant because these 'bad' things are actually related. There was a time when we in the western world could claim ignorance.
And the reason he gets under your nose is he is a self described polemicist.