I’m a socialist, generally vote for socialist or at least left-leaning candidates, support socialist policies and agree with the premise that record profits are basically unpaid wages.

But, seeing the hammer and sickle pop up in my Lemmy feed makes me really uncomfortable. I grew up under communism, and a good chunk of my family was killed and oppressed by people in uniforms with that symbol. To me it represents all that can go horribly wrong when socialism is stripped of empathy and compassion and married with violence and intolerance.

For me, it’s a bit like seeing a swastika. Really hard to get behind it, even though I know the symbol predates the NSDAP.

Is there really no better alternative for symbolising modern socialism?