# Meditations on Moloch by Scott Alexander

11 Hacker News commenters recommended Meditations on Moloch by Scott Alexander and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a favorite essay on why systems produce bad outcomes; one critic says it excuses evil people of responsibility.

## Why people recommend it

- Praised as a favorite, great essay (4 comments): "Meditations on Moloch (2014) is also an HN favorite..." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49352758)) "Meditations on Moloch is a favourite of mine on this" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49511889)) "There is a great essay called Meditations on Moloch" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46077833))
- Useful, covers broader themes (2 comments): "continues to be one of the most useful articles I’ve ever read" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49591927)) "Covers the broader themes." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48049009))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Programming as Theory Building by Peter Naur](https://hackerapproved.com/p/programming-as-theory-building.md): 32 recommend
- [Ur-Fascism by Umberto Eco](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ur-fascism.md): 18 recommend
- [Politics and the English Language by George Orwell](https://hackerapproved.com/p/politics-and-the-english-language.md): 14 recommend
- [Right to Read by Richard Stallman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/right-to-read.md): 12 recommend
- [Reflections on Trusting Trust by Ken Thompson](https://hackerapproved.com/p/reflections-on-trusting-trust.md): 10 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Meditations on Moloch by Scott Alexander", https://hackerapproved.com/p/meditations-on-moloch/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).