[throwanem]

It's not so much obedience to authority as identification with it. "Temporarily embarrassed millionaires", etc. Why be surprised to see it so strongly expressed on a site explicitly meant for millionaires seeking to disembarrass themselves?

[cmrdporcupine]

But it's a wider phenomenon than HN. North American (well, especially Americans... up here in Canada maybe less so) culture in general prides itself on its relative distrust and distaste for government, and talks big about opposition to authoritarianism -- but fails to recognize corporations as having said authority, and they often get carte blanche.