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I don't know why people are so terrified of politics.

I’ll venture a guess. Mainstream politics (in America at least) has become something of a spectator sport that leads to unproductive, irritating, and dysfunctionally polarizing behavior.

Because activists can talk about nothing else.

It's annoying, not terrifying

it's not the topic itself that is terrifying but the antagonistic mode of discussion.

i have no problem discussing political opinions themselves, but i have no interest arguing about who these opinions belong to and which party is on which side of the debate or judging people or groups for having a particular opinion, or worse attacking them for it.

I don't think it'll get better by NOT talking about it.

Sure, polarisation may exist elsewhere, but does that mean we have to bring it here too by talking about it? (Because the users on HN are subject to the same tendencies as everyone else, and almost invariably the kind of conversations that polarise elsewhere will polarise people here too.)

It is absolutely not part of HN's charter to make US politics (or the politics of any country!) better. That's a project worth undertaking, but there are better places for it.

Because I don't care about what happens in a completely different country.

It isn't a part of HN's charter, but certainly the attitude "politics must be avoided" is not good.