Can we not critique something without whataboutism? We're not talking about China or Russia, where presumably scant few HN contributors live.

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lukan 4 hours ago | parent [-]

The topic is advertising. As of my knowledge, happens all around the world.

So .. why single out "the west" here like this in the first place?

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venturecruelty 3 hours ago | parent [-]

Because western society, especially the American flavor, sees every ad as sacrosanct and necessary for the planet to keep on spinning, while the mere suggestion that maybe we don't need billboards is met with disproportionate vitriol. I mean, someone elsewhere suggested that it would upend the economy if people couldn't shove their marketing copy in your face 24/7. Oh, imagine the horror!

Hacker News also has a, largely, American audience, so we ought not to pretend that we're not mostly talking about America and the west when we have these discussions. "But what about China?" I don't care, I don't live in China, most people here don't live in China. I have a laundry list of criticism of China, but something tells me we're not talking about China.

	▲	lukan 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Advertisement works pretty much the same, whether in the west, as well as the east ( whatever those terms mean anyway). So I would rather like to talk about advertisement in general, how we as humanity can maybe move past it. How to fund online services in a different way, instead of advertisement. Venting about how all is shit, I see as not so productive in making any progress here.