this post was submitted on 09 Jan 2026
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Lefty Memes

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An international (English speaking) socialist Lemmy community free of "ML" (read: Dengist) influence. 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, discussion and agitprop/stuff that's better fit for a poster than a meme 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. Please post agitprop here)


0.5 [Provisional Rule] Use alt text or image descriptions to allow greater accessibility


(Please take a look at our wiki page for the guidelines on how to actually write alternative text!)

We require alternative text (from now referred to as "alt text") to be added to all posts/comments containing media, such as images, animated GIFs, videos, audio files, and custom emojis.
EDIT: For files you share in the comments, a simple summary should be enough if they’re too complex.

We are committed to social equity and to reducing barriers of entry, including (digital) communication and culture. It takes each of us only a few moments to make a whole world of content (more) accessible to a bunch of folks.

When alt text is absent, a reminder will be issued. If you don't add the missing alt text within 48 hours, the post will be removed. No hard feelings.


0.5.1 Style tip about abbreviations and short forms


When writing stuff like "lol" and "iirc", it's a good idea to try and replace those with their all caps counterpart

  • ofc => OFC
  • af = AF
  • ok => OK
  • lol => LOL
  • bc => BC
  • bs => BS
  • iirc => IIRC
  • cia => CIA
  • nato => Nato (you don't spell it when talking, right?)
  • usa => USA
  • prc => PRC
  • etc.

Why? Because otherwise (AFAIK), screen readers will try to read them out as actually words instead of spelling them


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" (read: Dengists) (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 irrationally 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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cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/7288811

It's also because you DON'T hate AmeriKKKa ENOUGH.

amerikkka qin-shi-huangdi-fireball

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[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Yep! Revolutionary optimism is the absolute best attitude to have. The harsh reality is that, for now, the average worker in the US still gains more from imperialism than loses from capitalism, but the flipside to that is that the global south is breaking away from imperialism and thus weakening that very same system. As this happens, there will likely soon be an inflexion point where the proletariat in the US Empire aligns with the interests of the international proletariat, and this will mark the beginning of the end of this monster.

Dialectical materialism ensures that our hopium is based on solid ground, and not mere wishcasting! We're in late-stage imperialism, the global transition between capitalism and socialism is long, messy, and queer, but is already well under-way.

[–] oculi@anarchist.nexus 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Damn I was memeing but you wrote a very nice reply :D I hope so too. I hope we all live enough to see the global south develop rapidly and maybe even, more socialist revolutions around the globe.

Question: China is rapidly developing and practicing the "socialism in one country" policy, do you think they'd ever become internationalist like how Cuba or other states were? If so, what are the requirements? And why are they not currently? (Optional question)

I think exporting socialism is a pretty crucial step eventually, but I just don't see any progress towards that as of now. I hope so one day, though.

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Fantastic question! In short, there isn't a correct answer to this, so the following is just my view on it. First, some clarifications:

  1. Socialism in One Country isn't a stance against internationalism, but the belief that socialism can be achieved without revolution in the west. This dates back to Trotsky's insistence that the peasantry were counter-revolutionary due to having petty-bourgeois consciousness, and that the RSFSR would fall without support from a socialist west. The USSR practiced socialism in one country, but was directly interventionist, compared to the modern PRC.

  2. The PRC's foreign policy during the sino-soviet split was awful. If you want to learn more about why, I gave my thoughts in a recent thread here. In short, they supported Cambodia over Vietnam, the US over the USSR, all because they thought that the USSR was an imperfect ally due to adopting a revisionist stance that class struggle was over in the USSR. They were right, and this revisionism contributed to their eventual collapse, but so did the split, especially with the terrible foreign policy on the PRC's part compared to the USSR's.

Alright, back to your questions!

Question: China is rapidly developing and practicing the “socialism in one country” policy, do you think they’d ever become internationalist like how Cuba or other states were?

I alluded to this already, but the PRC is already internationalist, just non-interventionist. I'll elaborate on that more later, but instead I'll answer what I predict will happen in the future:

As the US Empire continues to decline and the PRC continues to rise, there is a leftward turn within the youth of the PRC. Conditions are rapidly improving there, it's true, but staying so interconnected with the global market is a calculated risk with consequences for the working classes as well. They've relied heavily on exports, and this made them reliant on the world's biggest treatlerites, the US Empire.

In the latest Five Year Plan, however, the one for 2026-2030, a huge focus is being placed on raising domestic consumption, lowering working hours, and raising quality of life directly. The last few Five Year Plans have been focusing on green development, rapidly improving production, and equalizing the rural/urban divide that was sharp due to rapid development in the cities, but now that those are well under-way, China is beginning to try to rely on itself moving forward.

This opens them up to more interventionism, as the multi-polar world emerges, if they so choose, such as if the US Empire truly does try to spark a hot war in Taiwan/Japan/ROK (though the ROK is moving more towards the PRC these days and against Japan/US).

If so, what are the requirements?

Essentially, they need to not depend on the US Empire for exports, and drive up domestic consumption, something they've already aconowledged. The PRC also has a defensive millitary, not an imperialist one like the US Empire, so they'd need to pivot their range to a more active role, something the US is trying to prevent now by couping a bunch of states in South America.

And why are they not currently?

This is where I will answer how they are already internationalist. It's because right now they are undermining the basis of imperialism by focusing on win-win development with the global south, and bypassing unequal exchange. A huge part of how unequal exchange functions is tech monopoly allowing the west to charge monopoly prices for tech, but China doesn't do that. That's why BRI and cheap EVs, solar, etc. have been seeing a huge swing in the global south, and has allowed the global south to escape underdevelopment.

It's a boring, slow, gradual internationalism, but they are trying to build that multi-polar world where the US Empire isn't the only player. That's why the US Empire is increasingly desperate to stop China, when they seemed just fine only 15 years ago. Chinese foreign policy during the Sino-Soviet split was terrible, and this is also a course-correction to not directly make the same mistakes they did for the latter half of the 20th century.

As time goes on, though, the youth are more radical and aren't simply content with the current level of development, they dream of the social safety nets of the Maoist era and yearn more for direct action. The process of democracy in the PRC is slow and gradual, but does respond to the will of the people. As these demographics shift, and more youth enter the CPC, we will likely see a more radical shift.

Just as Mao, Deng, and Xi all adapted to their present material conditions of China, so too will Xi's successor have to, and considering 2049 is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the PRC, expect big shifts in the years leading up to that.

Sorry that this was so long!

[–] oculi@anarchist.nexus 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

No worries! I've had this question on my head for a very long time so its very cool to have an educated Marxist answer it with nuance. Thank you!

As the US is keeling over and the material conditions of the global south improve, I hope it will push them more left. As you said, it is a slow and boring internationalism but I hope we will get to see its enormous long term successes in the future:)

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 days ago

No problem comrade, any time! 🫡