Why are people so fucking sour here? I critique shit all the time. Just look at my comment history. But is this really something to be critical of? A lot of people trying to poke holes, when this piece is not even meant for the HN type/crowd. The name of the website is Good News Network.
Just feel good about it or don't.... Why wasting so much energy in trying to shit on a feel-good article? I really don't understand HN sometimes.
HN is more about being argumentative for the sake of it than actually needed. May be more and more people feed on trying to prove others' wrong than proving themselves right.
As one of my previous comments said, "HN is not full of smart people, HN is full of people who think they are smart." And I may very well belong to the second category but I don't comment on every issue at least.
There was a submission about people wanting to help a cause and that the vast majority of people will merely do symbolic work that shows that you are working on the problem but not actually doing much to solve the real problem.
Common examples are unconventional water sources in remote places when the real solution is to just give them the same thing the "rich people" are having, namely access to tap water.
It's basically a sort of hero complex. Poverty tourism also falls into this trap. People go to some poor slum or village, help out for a week and then leave. It looks good on social media but you accomplished nothing.
This article is the exact opposite. Poor person gets the same treatment as all the other rich people and unsurprisingly stops being poor.
There probably are other factors at play here. But the whole framing of dirt poor immigrants coming to the US, pulling themselves up by their bootstraps and achieving success seems like a patronizing trope at this point, used by the elites (most of whom had far less interesting stories, mostly through being born in wealthy/upper middle class families) as a goal for everyone who may be struggling financially in the US.
The reality is that most immigrants are just like other humans; they're not "work machines" and their successes should be lauded but not used as something that everyone should necessarily aspire for.
I know right? "Good News Network"... If you don't want fluff pieces pandering to an audience looking for GOOD NEWS then I don't know what to say. Certainly going to roll my eyes if you are using these articles as a vehicle to drive hot takes across enemy lines in your own personal war against pop-culture.
Just feel good about it or don't.... Why wasting so much energy in trying to shit on a feel-good article? I really don't understand HN sometimes.