From HN guidelines:

> Please don't submit comments saying that HN is turning into Reddit. It's a semi-noob illusion, as old as the hills.

> Be kind. Don't be snarky. Comments should get more thoughtful and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive. Have curious conversation; don't cross-examine.

> When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names. "That is idiotic; 1 + 1 is 2, not 3" can be shortened to "1 + 1 is 2, not 3."

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Point taken, thank you.

...but I am concerned that HN is changing for the worse.

A series of ad hominem attacks that don’t address the substance of the parent are superior because...?

Is it insufficiently cynical?

It's something a teenager might write, yes, because teenagers often aren't hypocritical enough to ignore the murders just because it's a nation-state doing them. That doesn't make it wrong.