Have faith in HN. If you believe it will be crummy, you’ll probably find comments that justify that belief. But believing the opposite usually yields the opposite.

(You can also yield the opposite directly, by writing good comments.)

I have zero faith in HN, it operates in the same fantastical bubble that all of Silicon Valley operates in.

I went through periods of losing faith too. But ultimately, HN = programmers, writers, and so on. What are the chances of any random programmer/writer being interesting? Much higher than the general population, for some definitions of interesting.

You get what you put in. It often doesn't feel like it, but in the long run it seems to work out that way.

You have to remember that HN is so massive now that it's hard to comprehend just how many people read the top comments. All the world is a stage, but HN particularly so. And personally, I think it's cool you can influence the situation by skill alone – a good top comment can salvage an otherwise hopeless situation.

HN is still just mostly overpaid white guys that are immune from most of societal problems. It's like the rich saying "we're all in this together." Sounds good but deep down you know it's a lie.

I would love if HN banned anything that had to do with politics and politicians by default in all the postings

FTFY

As you said yourself "most". This happens to hit a little close to home to HN readers though.