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The comment is non-offensive and draws an analogy between two organizations which used propaganda effectively. Comparing Mr. Gruber's writings to those of fellow travelers is a legitimate comment on the possibility of editorial bias in the original article. I

It is useful because it places the article within a larger historical context. It extends the content, and on HN, that is appropriate.



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I did read the article and found it extremely interesting. My comment is not detracting of the work itself.

Are you accusing this article of innumeracy and/or propaganda or is this just a general comment?

This comment is a demonstration of precisely the attitude criticized by the article.

I was not really commenting on the paper or its contents. That is beyond me.

Rather I was commenting on the fact that the blog post is not as neutral as some commentators believed it to be.


>but this article just shows that you don't even have to try hard to create a biased comparison.

Are you referring to the article or your own post?


The wording hints at bias against the article's own, but I found it to be an accurate, succinct comment nonetheless.

My apologies, this was not intended to be inflammatory but the quotes out of the article and the comments were raised to point out that these kinds of baseless and biased comments from the author detract from the objective quality of the information previously presented in the article and lower the credibility of the author and even the information that the author presents.

I don’t see how this is a solid defense against GP comment. You’re criticism of a source your unfamiliar with follows very tribal / ideological lines, which you admit to, but don’t seem to think that this is itself way more biased than the bias you’re warning of in the source.

At the very least, you’re comfortable with knee jerk judgements based on personal ideology, and I don’t think that’s good for any discussion.


I'm not arguing it isn't, only that the comment does does something similar by ignoring the point of the article.

People's associations are part of their actions and a relevant part of the context of their writing. The commenter didn't necessarily entirely dismiss the article or the argument because of it, but it is potentially valuable information to have.

It's not necessary to evaluate every work completely stripped of context to engage with it honestly. Articles are written by people, with motivations for writing them, and nothing is gained by pretending otherwise.


my comment was in agreement and support for the article and not a critic of it. the article was pretty awesome! I should have made that clearer in my comment, apologies for that.

It's a fair point, and I don't mean to come across as overly dismissive of the article in general.

But my comment did address the article's content...

I don’t want my criticism to be misinterpreted. The issue with the article is that it is lacking in factual substance compared to strong condemning language and speculation. This makes it seem less credible.

The choice of language in an isolated sense is fine. Unique writing styles can be more interesting to read, overall.


> Not in the context presented, no.

You're contracting yourself and just being argumentative. The whole context is their international assistance work, and there is nothing but praise in that article. Meanwhile the article just brushes aside their initial deceit which greatly magnified the problem.


The statements in the article are objective facts. Seeing an argument in them is your own work.

Of course, If I were to take your comment as a criticism of the article, I would be doing the same thing.


I think the parent comment was directed at the article's authors, not at you.

Quite so. I took the time to read the article, and it’s not abrasive or offensive. (You didn’t say it was, I took you as making a more general point.)

It’s not saying anything new either.


Your judgement of the article was nearly entirely informed by who wrote it rather than its contents. That's a good way to continue a culture war, not a good way to discover the truth.

I implore you to consider the well-founded facts on both sides, not to claim this piece has absolutely nothing worth saying.

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