What brought me here:
When breadtube became a thing around 2016 it was my refuge from the horrible reactionary shitshow the internet was at the time. It opened me to things further left than Obummer.
I lurked on Reddits sorry excuses for leftist subs and heard them whisper about the CTH sub as being "bad leftists" but they never explained what was bad about them so I checked for myself and checked out the podcast and was like "They aren't bad they're just a bit obnoxious." I didn't really hang out on r/CTH, only saw the occasional post, and I listened to the podcast every now and again (and not at all anymore, stopped listening after the 2020 primaries) and that was about it. Then r/CTH was banned, this place was mentioned and I got curious.
It felt like I had finally found a place that wasn't going to demand I be civil towards Nazis. I wasn't going to be banned for saying "kill all slave owners." I also thought you guys were really funny. So yeah, Ironally r/CTH made you guys more appealing lmao. It also helped that you retained the "fuck being civil to horrible people" energy while at the same time attempting to make sure marginalised groups weren't thrown under the bus.
What made me stay:
A community of weirdos that genuinely
want to make the world a better place and stand up for their marginalised comrades. Whether it's the mutual aid comm helping people the best it can, the news comm shining a light on events the world tries to bury, or simply the movie comm providing a safe fun area to chill, I feel like this place provides something other places on the internet don't. It also is a place I feel like I can ask any questions about leftism and not be called an idiot. You guys taught me things ranging from practical stuff how to take part in my local org, to mundane things how to make a rad bean recipe. I think that's worth something. Also I still think you guys are hilarious.
EDIT: added some more context because I was reminded of stuff I had forgotten.
only caught the subreddit towards the end bc i was going to school and focused. covid rolled around so i was wasting more time on the computer. also allowed normie me (NM) more time to consider politic ideology more patiently beyond “never join the military” so NM was looking for information.
the subreddit was entertaining and also was the logical extension of the Bernie vibe which NM was on board with wholeheartedly. He made me want to go vote and give $20 to a politician.
That ended, NM was left with nothing on the computer besides a job, video games, and the desire to browse supplementary sites for video game discussion (which NM had sworn off to focus on school). The old browsing habits turned into reading about politics and the news and I honest to god think i found the subreddit bc ppl were posting on reddit in general about the donald getting banned and any left wing subs getting quarantined. Joined the discord, joined the site. This is i think my third account. the site got me to read non fiction that actually made sense. i’d always loved reading but it had to grab me. The read settlers posters were right.
stayed bc it’s the only place where the text on my phone/computer reads as sober. Everyone else where people aren’t explicitly posting as communists reads as asinine. I also like only having to open one website to get shitposts, news, discussion, and the occasional sincere blogpost about people’s lives. Oh and there was that recent fundraiser too, that was heartwarming.