this post was submitted on 25 Oct 2024
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Lefty Memes

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An international (English speaking) socialist Lemmy community free of the "ML" influence of instances like lemmy.ml and lemmygrad. This is a place for undogmatic shitposting and memes from a progressive, anti-capitalist and truly anti-imperialist perspective, regardless of specific ideology.

Serious posts, news, and discussion go in c/Socialism.

If you are new to socialism, you can ask questions and find resources over on c/Socialism101.

Please don't forget to help keep this community clean by reporting rule violations, updooting good contributions and downdooting those of low-quality!

Rules

Version without spoilers

0. Only post socialist memes


That refers to funny image macros and means that generally videos and screenshots are not allowed. Exceptions include explicitly humorous and short videos, as well as (social media) screenshots depicting a funny situation, joke, or joke picture relating to socialist movements, theory, societal issues, or political opponents. Examples would be the classic case of humorous Tumblr or Twitter posts/threads. (and no, agitprop text does not count as a meme)


1. Socialist Unity in the form of mutual respect and good faith interactions is enforced here


Try to keep an open mind, other schools of thought may offer points of view and analyses you haven't considered yet. Also: This is not a place for the Idealism vs. Materialism or rather Anarchism vs. Marxism debate(s), for that please visit c/AnarchismVsMarxism.


2. Anti-Imperialism means recognizing capitalist states like Russia and China as such


That means condemning (their) imperialism, even if it is of the "anti-USA" flavor.


3. No liberalism, (right-wing) revisionism or reactionaries.


That includes so called: Social Democracy, Democratic Socialism, Dengism, Market Socialism, Patriotic Socialism, National Bolshevism, Anarcho-Capitalism etc. . Anti-Socialist people and content have no place here, as well as the variety of "Marxist"-"Leninists" seen on lemmygrad and more specifically GenZedong (actual ML's are welcome as long as they agree to the rules and don't just copy paste/larp about stuff from a hundred years ago).


4. No Bigotry.


The only dangerous minority is the rich.


5. Don't demonize previous and current socialist experiments or (leading) individuals.


We must constructively learn from their mistakes, while acknowledging their achievements and recognizing when they have strayed away from socialist principles.

(if you are reading the rules to apply for modding this community, mention "Mantic Minotaur" when answering question 2)


6. Don't idolize/glorify previous and current socialist experiments or (leading) individuals.


Notable achievements in all spheres of society were made by various socialist/people's/democratic republics around the world. Mistakes, however, were made as well: bureaucratic castes of parasitic elites - as well as reactionary cults of personality - were established, many things were mismanaged and prejudice and bigotry sometimes replaced internationalism and progressiveness.



  1. Absolutely no posts or comments meant to relativize(/apologize for), advocate, promote or defend:

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

I'm very moved by your comment and can't even begin to approximate how you must feel and what you have to suffer.
You have hit every nail on the head. I don't even know how to respond to most of the stuff you wrote, apart from nodding and fuelling my determination with it...

This war has more surreal than anything I’ve lived through: more surreal than the post-blast week, more surreal than peak lockdown season, more surreal than any of the waves of civil conflict throughout my life. I have never felt more guilty for every breath of air I take and every hug I give my family. People, normal civilian people like me, are losing everything, often their lives.

More surreal: an Arabic sweet shop I go to very often (it’s on a main highway) got damaged by an attack this week. It’s in the middle of a very safe city. Like imagine your favorite something just had to close from war damage. Good thing the indiscriminate killing machine didn’t suspect that terrorists were hiding in the baklawa. Maybe next week they’ll find them and finish the job.

This made me tear up while reading T_T

Would you fucking believe it if I told you I get DMs from people “sympathizing with my hardships” but asking me if I could kindly remove my post because of some US election shenanigans.

My first reaction was "What?! Is it already that bad here on the fediverse?!". But on second thought, I am not surprised, considering the shit I had to permaban and delete just on here... -_-

I like not being bombed for the crime of not being a European colonist. But writing about it in English online? Must be a psyop huh

Are you sure we are not posting from the same Russian/Chinese/North Korean/Iranian bot farm? (/s obvsly)

At least this isn’t Reddit where a few years back someone actually questioned whether I could really be Lebanese if I was writing so much in decent English. Truly le euphoric intellectual site.

Don't worry, .world is working very hard on getting there ((:

And hey if I was an American voter I’d probably still cast an unenthusiastic ballot for the cop if I was in a battleground state. I get it, I hate the other guy, it would be morally gray, but no grayer than the options we get to vote for here.

I'm not from the USA either and do see it in the same way, which is why I'd vote for the Wall Street party as well in a swing state.

But that doesn’t mean this absurd defence of the indiscriminate killing machine, spewing forth from every corner of the woodwork, hasn’t really highlighted how the US just has two right wing parties

This, in combination with my point just above, is exactly why I have stayed clear of preaching to the choir about the ultraconservatives being bad and made sure that nothing I post has any messages of vote boycotting. But rather to maybe make a teeny-tiny microscopic dent in the unconditional support for the (neo-) imperialist/colonialist scum of this planet

the “nice democratic countries’” fetish for pretend civility has never been more exhausting

That seems to be tradition in virtually all western / white-majority countries. F.e. it showed during the fights for black liberation in the 20th century and still shows when oppressed people get righteously "angry" during discussions - "Why can't they lead a civilized debate? We would listen to them if they did" - and then they might, but will (at best) pay lip service to those issues, never systematically address them... More often than not, they'll continue as before or make it even worse (but at least it's not the republicans doing it, right?)

When the indiscriminate killing machine is properly listed next to Rhodesia and Nazi Germany, the fervent support the world showed them will be a rightful, eternal humiliation for every country that has been rewarding them for tearing our families and limbs apart.

By God, that day will come if I can do anything about it

Clearly our lives are just acceptable collateral for people playing what should ostensibly be a very important political game. If that’s what our lives are worth, what is our memory worth?

Unfortunately, liberals in the imperial core are more worried about their personal privileges than the people's suffering they are built on


Also, I have to apologize for this community having turned in the way it has over this issue. For various personal reasons, I'm not perpetually carrying out proactive moderation and it shows. I already had a few reports incoming, but more would help make it more consistent. I know I can't ask that of you and that it should be a community effort.
It's just disheartening and disgusting how so many people people think they can claim the label of "leftist" and support (or apologize/justify) genocide commited by the settler state extension of the us empire, supported by most of NAFO...
unfortunately it's rlyyy widespread here in Germany (embodied by the "Anti-Germans" (Wikipedia link)) and from what I gather in the USA as well

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago

Unfortunately, liberals in the imperial core are more worried about their personal privileges

"I like status", therefore "I like gaining status through the oppression of an outgroup", therefore "oppressing the outgroup is acceptable, because I like it." The moral calculus for this is extremely addictive.