The way I see it is if a person’s intent is seeking either sympathy or any social value proposition HN is likely not the ideal venue. It’s like the taboo of talking about politics in the office for those of us who don’t live in the valley where that is more generally accepted.
How would you define "talking about politics"? Does it include talking about government? If so, all of the Snowden leaks are off the table.
What about policy? That seemingly covers universal basic income, entrepreneurship incentives, etc.
News stories about tech companies? Most of those are constantly in the news for enraging the entire political spectrum.
What about government clients, as it also relates to policy? We'd basically never talk about Palantir on here again.
I don't see any way to talk about tech companies, entrepeneurship, (technology) business, philosophy, or most other interesting HN topics without crossing into something that most people consider too political for office conversation.