alt Hacker Newspolitics (and the truth itself) have always been tribal. People discussed things and disagreed in public and that's how they managed to slightly influence each other.
Avoiding to discuss politics is cowardly. It distances people from each other because they maintain a fake facade, and they express their true selves and beliefs only online.
I actually encourage discussion in the essay, as long as people are well-intentioned or until you hit a point of dogma
But if anyone is closed to the idea of an idea being wrong, no discussion can really be had