this post was submitted on 17 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/7365162

If you do this, it's because you don't hate AmeriKKKa enough.

amerikkka qin-shi-huangdi-fireball

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[–] Pajonk@szmer.info 2 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

this conversation is going nowhere

Agree, since you're not responding to any argument, and you're only sending straw man arguments and and personam, it's hard.

You are arguing in bad faith, constantly negging

You're insulting me all the time, ignoring my arguments, evidences, logic, facts. Dude XD

acting like European chauvinist

Dude, this is too much. You're supporting racist and homophobic regimes, like the one in russia, this is the proof, that I'm not the one who is chauvinist. Like i wrote many times, I'm against imperialism, and exploitation of less fortunate countries. I explain to you how Poland was exploited by the soviets in the past, i explain to you how Africa is exploited by west and east, and why I'm against it. And you're supporting east imperialist just because you don't like west. We're not the same.

You misrepresent my arguments at every turn,

Wrong, you had no arguments. Only straw man arguments and ad personam.

You insist that Russian funding of far-right groups “proves” something,

I gave you the evidences, the facts. And my initial statement was that russia is one of the forces responsible for rise of far right shit in europe. And you're not trying to discuss this thesis, but trying to switch our discussion to why people are poor, and poor people are more probable to radicalize. You don't want to discuss the thesis, but want to switch to obvious thing. What would you do then, would you try to convince me, that russia is not the real imperialistic enemy of the world?

Fascism did not emerge

Oh, here we go XD I knew it, that you will push narrative, that we don't have to care about russia funding far right movements, it's fault of poor people XD

Providing links and photos does not replace analysis.

Yup, facts are not facts, we don't have to care. Comon need to lick putin's boots. Let's do it, russia is good, west is bad, what's wrong? XD

Stop lying dude/

Quoting Britannica

Yup, again, facts are not facts, and russian imperialism doesn't matter, because ad personam ad personam, insult, insult.

Russia may act regionally, but it does not control global finance,

Russia is a part of the same groups, that you mentioned before as a groups that are in the control. And russian oligarchs have influences all over the world.

Ok, we can go back to Africa, that is exploited by many countries, including ruSSia. Who is sending state funded paramilitary forces called Wagner Group?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagner_Group_activities_in_Africa

Why they are killing and performing military shit there? We all knows. This is part of the militarism, that should not be there if your argument is right.

ignoring the fact that integration into EU labor chains relies on exploitation elsewhere Africa, Latin America, and the periphery pay the cost

So, you're talking about exploitation that China is a big part of the process, and russia is just too poor to be a part of, because for russian oligarchs exploitation of regular people is the most of what they know how to do. Remember, that huge part of russian economy is selling oil. Why regular people are not gaining nothing from the oil, and most of the money is going to private hands? Here's your exploitation and imperialism from ruSSia.

You personalize structural phenomena, calling out oligarchs and naming small groups while refusing to address the system that produces them.

More lies, keep lying, and creating straw man arguments.

And then go back to licking putin's boot.

You sound like a russian AI bot, sorry, i will not send you any answer.

[–] yunqihao@hexbear.net 2 points 14 hours ago

I’m going to try to reset the tone and be clearer and without escalating this further.

I don’t support the Russian state, its oligarchs, or its internal politics. I’m Chinese, and my position is not based on liking or defending Russia. The issue is methodological. Disliking a government does not mean we can abandon serious analysis and replace it with moral labeling. Saying “this state is bad” is not the same thing as explaining how global power actually works.

I accept that I responded sharply at points. That said, the conversation deteriorated because any structural analysis I raised was immediately treated as propaganda or bootlicking. That reaction reflects a very common Western tendency to view people from the periphery as illegitimate speakers unless we repeat liberal conclusions. That dynamic matters, because it shuts down discussion before it even begins.

On China specifically: calling it “state capitalism” as a dismissal misunderstands Marxist theory. Lenin was explicit that state capitalism under proletarian political control is a necessary transitional stage in underdeveloped conditions. China has contradictions and real internal problems, but those are not the subject here. The discussion began with your claim that Russia is responsible for the rise of European fascism. Constantly shifting the debate to China avoids addressing that claim directly.

Imperialism is not defined simply by warfare, territorial disputes, or influence. It is a system of global capital accumulation based on monopoly finance, reserve currency power, control of trade routes, sanctions, debt regimes, and international institutions. The US, EU, NATO, and Five Eyes bloc dominate these structures. They can impose structural adjustment, control global payments, freeze assets worldwide, and extract surplus value permanently from the periphery. Russia and China cannot do this. They do not control the IMF, World Bank, SWIFT, global shipping insurance, or the world’s reserve currency. This is a structural distinction, not a moral defense of any state.

Yes, Russia operates regionally. Yes, it funds political actors abroad. That is not disputed. What is disputed is causality. Fascism does not originate from foreign funding. It arises from capitalist crisis. Austerity, privatization, labor precarity, housing collapse, and the betrayal of social democracy create the mass base for reaction. External funding can intensify these contradictions, but it cannot create them. Fuel is not the same thing as ignition.

If foreign money were the cause, Europe would not have produced fascist movements long before Putin, long before modern Russia, and long before 2014. European fascism is not imported. It is homegrown, rooted in European capitalism itself.

I will reiterate our disagreement is therefore not about whether Russia engages in harmful behavior which was never in question. It is about analytical framework. You approach politics through liberal moral reasoning focused on bad actors and state behavior. I approach it through dialectical materialism, focusing on systems, class relations, and global hierarchy.

That is the core issue.