I feel exactly the opposite. It feels like HN is very liberal. I'd bet money it's much more than the general population.

Its not like everyone is perfectly left or right. Hn is probably pretty socially liberal and kinda economically liberal on some points, but its also a big fan of companies and has a lot more people with libertarian ideas than the general population.

Libertarian isn't necessarily right-wing, even though it generally is in the US.

When you get some time, search for and skim though "The Conquest of Bread" to see a hard Leftist complain about taxes. Be warned, the author is kind of a nutbar.

> Libertarian isn't necessarily right-wing, even though it generally is in the US.

American left-libertarians exist, but may not identify as libertarians because right-libertarians have kind of monopolized the label.

I'd like to think that left-libertarians would focus on efficiency of the labor market and the attendant benefits to the broader economy. Right-libertarians have ceded that ground.

Or maybe people have more nuanced views? People on HN generally support "liberal" things like caring for the environment and net neutrality, but a lot of people on HN are also small business owners and entrepreneurs and so also like the "business-friendly" economic policies of the right.

The "business-friendly" policies of the right are often not particularly friendly to small businesses, though such businesses are typically used as rhetorical devices in selling them.