The time has come for a popular revolt against the dictatorship of en-dashes and em-dashes. The code that creates them is ugly (but not needed); when template or html code is used, it litters the page with unnecessary markup whose aesthetic value is more than outweighed by its tendency to discourage newcomers from embarking upon their first edits.
To arms, fellow hyphen Luddites! Smash (metaphorically-speaking) the manual of style as your forebears smashed the stocking frames of greedy merchants. Dash proudly! With bold strokes--by ones and by twos the hyphens shall rise again, and once more simplicity shall graze freely upon the pastures of our fine articles.