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!
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.
Fascists always vote = fascists get what they want = idiots saying "voting doesn't work"
pretty sure it;'s not the voting.
pretty sure it's everything OTHER than the voting that gets them what they want. and the liberals refusing to let anyone stop them.
you'll notice that even when a fascist loses an election, like in 2000, they still get their guy in office sometimes.
wait, why are we holding liberals responsible? Shouldn't we be holding the uh, fascists responsible? They're the ones causing all the problems LMAO
Because liberals can only ever critique some symptoms and never the root causes which leads to an inability to address the problems of neoliberalism leads to the rise of space for fascist ideology?
maybe? But tangentially providing space for shitty people doesn't make you a shitty person. Housing someone who is/was a murder doesn't just make you a shitty person.
Politics is quite literally a game of 4d chess unless played from the individuals perspective, in which case its a funny put name on paper and put it into a box game instead.
I feel like the vast majority of self described liberals would have plenty of issues with violent and fascist-esque institutions running for government positions. I can't think of any well known liberals that are ambivalent to trump, let alone supportive of him.
Yeah, but simply not voting isn’t a solution. It’s a self-congratulatory exercise in washing your hands of responsibility. We all see this is the problem. It’s been the problem our entire lives. It’s clear as day for anyone with half a brain. So…what then?
Defeatist bullshit
Limitations of action from either side are entirely due to a lack of a strong majority in Congress. Without it, no matter the goals, the capabilities are limited. There are times I do really appreciate some of the checks congress has over the executive.
this meme plays out like the government is controlled by one party at a time
Socialists do nothing -> Fascists receive no consequences -> Socialists do nothing -> Fascists seize power -> Socialists join the fascists and say it's all the fault of the liberals.
Complain all you want about the liberals voting to prevent fascists from getting power, but they're doing something while socialists do nothing except complain.
I'll let you in on a little secret, many liberals are socialists that got tired of doing nothing. Voting in many successive elections to get the change you want over many decades is far more admirable than sitting on the sidelines complaining about the people that are making an effort.
This is where I'm at, admittedly. I see no substantial action from any alternative group. I can't be the change I want to see because I'm not a leader. So given the options I have to choose one of them. I finally get the "lesser evil" shit. I used to think it was a cynical slogan meant to get people used to the idea of supporting heinous crimes, which it is, but it is also a genuine sentiment that holds some weight. I was blind to that before. The way I see it now, no matter my choice, evil will come, so I might as well cast my ballot for the one that is a ostensibly less evil. So I'll begrudgingly vote for Harris because the rhetoric coming from the republicans is fucking terrifying, and JD Vance especially makes me feel very nervous. He's exactly the type of slimy opportunistic creep that should be kept as far away from power as possible. At least it's not Biden or Shapiro. C'est la vie.
Yeah. Mainly, find ways, wherever you are, to do right with the small amount of power you have. It matters.
Some of that is voting. Some of that is whatever political support you can manage. Some of it is just saying "that seems like a bad idea" when you're in a meeting, or choosing a more ethical supplier if you're at some company.
Always know that, no matter how small the power you hold seems, it matters.
every day make the best choices you can with the energy you have available. you may or may not win; you may or may not even make a difference; one day you may just need a fucking cheeseburger from macdonalds despite your usual moral misgivings… and that’s fine!
make choices to change the system, sure, but be aware of the direction you want and head in that direction… change is proactive; participants make the rules
Exactly.
Pretty sure the "hold liberals accountable " falls under the "do nothing about fascists" banner
This might have been a pattern before but the new dem party seems to be hitting harder and faster than in the past. Plus it's hard to make change when ur not willing to do shady shit and ignore the essence of democracy and constitution
I do not disagree, but let's see if they can keep it together after January.
Yups, politicians of every party r still politicians, so no guarantee they even follow campaign promises
"Oh, so you'd rather the fascist win?" I say, as I'm being dragged from the voting booth into the gas chamber.
Schrodinger's vote: your vote only matters if you don't vote.
Aren't we already having that negotiation right now about the Palestinians?