this post was submitted on 09 Feb 2026
34 points (97.2% liked)

askchapo

23218 readers
103 users here now

Ask Hexbear is the place to ask and answer ~~thought-provoking~~ questions.

Rules:

  1. Posts must ask a question.

  2. If the question asked is serious, answer seriously.

  3. Questions where you want to learn more about socialism are allowed, but questions in bad faith are not.

  4. Try !feedback@hexbear.net if you're having questions about regarding moderation, site policy, the site itself, development, volunteering or the mod team.

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
PorkrollPosadist@hexbear.net
replaceable@hexbear.net
VILenin@hexbear.net
SexUnderSocialism@hexbear.net
khizuo@hexbear.net
Wakmrow@hexbear.net
34
Will I ever stop having cringe takes? (hexbear.net)
submitted 2 days ago by dil@hexbear.net to c/askchapo@hexbear.net
40 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Over the past few years, I've been sliding left ideologically, and as I move further left my old positions seem cringy.

That's expected when you change your worldview and realize you were parroting (e.g.) CIA propaganda, but it's left me feeling a bit ungrounded. I'm worried that in another year I'll look back and think my current views are dumb. Tbh, they almost certainly are.

Does this go away eventually? Or are y'all constantly refining your understanding, so you always dislike your views from a year ago?

Also:

If folks leave, where do they go from here? Are they just picking their preferred flavor of communism/anarchism? Are there other categories of leftism that they're heading to? I'm sure some backslide, but I mean heading somewhere new - like I didn't know people actually liked DPRK until I heard about "tankies." I saw a group that doesn't believe in objective reality?

I'm not really expecting to look at anything new and not be a Marxist, but I'd like to know what's out there to be sure.

I just wanna pick one goddamn worldview, never change it, and still be right about everything all the time. Is that so much to ask?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Philosoraptor@hexbear.net 3 points 1 day ago

I think you have to give yourself some grace, and remember that being wrong isn't in and of itself "cringe." You do the best you can with the information, education, and resource that you have at any given time, and constantly look for ways to keep learning. If you get some things wrong, that's not a moral failing. Looking back on positions you had in the past and thinking about how wrong you were isn't a mark of past you having been dumb or cringe, but rather a mark of how far you've come (assuming you're headed in the right direction). If you're doing it right, you'll always be updating your beliefs and opinions as you both encounter new evidence and keep reflecting on what you know. Stagnation is cringe, and so is thinking you have all the answers.