>> "Politics, like religion, is a topic where
>> there's no threshold of expertise for expressing
>> an opinion."
> I agree that this is how people tend to see it.
> But it isn't really true. Like JavaScript or auto
> mechanics or animal husbandry, there is indeed a
> threshold of expertise for expressing a *meaningful*
> opinion.
But that's the entire point. Lots and lots of people feel that they have something to say, and they say it, whereas very few actually have a meaningful opinion, and they get drowned out.
Although you say "it isn't really true" you have, in fact, agreed entirely.
Right, I am not disagreeing with the OP's premise.
I'm more just lamenting the truth of it -- and expressing disappointment that we haven't seen better discourse here on HN (where actually I think the signal to noise on stuff like node vs go, should you ever use rails for anything, etc, is actually pretty good, all things considered...).
Edit/Addition: What I mean to say is, the article isn't wrong, but the people it describes are wrong. Wrong to think that weighing in on a serious topic with essentially zero knowledge is acceptable, and wrong to conflate their politics with their identity. There is a bedrock of objective truth underlying virtually any political discussion, and it is just as stupid to conflate your own individual identity with a political party or TV station as it is to do the same thing with your smartphone OS or web app framework.
Although you say "it isn't really true" you have, in fact, agreed entirely.