this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2026
180 points (81.7% liked)
Showerthoughts
40847 readers
919 users here now
A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:
- Both “200” and “160” are 2 minutes in microwave math
- When you’re a kid, you don’t realize you’re also watching your mom and dad grow up.
- More dreams have been destroyed by alarm clocks than anything else
Rules
- All posts must be showerthoughts
- The entire showerthought must be in the title
- No politics
- If your topic is in a grey area, please phrase it to emphasize the fascinating aspects, not the dramatic aspects. You can do this by avoiding overly politicized terms such as "capitalism" and "communism". If you must make comparisons, you can say something is different without saying something is better/worse.
- A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
- Posts must be original/unique
- Adhere to Lemmy's Code of Conduct and the TOS
If you made it this far, showerthoughts is accepting new mods. This community is generally tame so its not a lot of work, but having a few more mods would help reports get addressed a little sooner.
Whats it like to be a mod? Reports just show up as messages in your Lemmy inbox, and if a different mod has already addressed the report, the message goes away and you never worry about it.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
But even in this context, who were you degrading and why?
I haven’t degraded anyone. My focus is on the contradiction of using the language of liberation to justify the mechanics of control.
Lemmy has a lot of performative anarchy: putting on the badass sunglasses of a rebel only to act as a gatekeeper for a specific set of permitted thoughts. When someone claims to be an anarchist but their first instinct is to use centralized power to silence anyone who doesn't follow an ideological script, they haven't abolished authority, they've just claimed it for themselves.
True anarchy requires individual responsibility. It’s about the capacity for adults to navigate discourse through their own discernment, critical thinking and voluntary association rather than needing someone to pre-filter their reality. If a community can only exist by forcibly removing any voice that challenges the status quo, it isn't a functional anarchist space; it’s just a digital walled garden with a cool flag.
thank you. That goes for all the lefty subs. I'm deeply involved with the leftist movement in my country, on a direct political level (I was an elected official two terms back, and am running again this cycle), and the amount of narcissistic performative ego-bullshit and echo chamber group think on here is jarring to me. Free speech and free thought and discussion and exploration of ideas and back and forth is NOT allowed here, it's pure emotional outrage gatekeeping and censorship, and if you don't stay in line you will be mobbed and reported over instances to have you silenced. I feel sometimes like online leftist space is like MAGA only with different talking points.
That's not anarchy, that's being an asshole. You are generalizing an entire group based on the actions of one person.
Calling names doesn't change the structural reality I'm pointing out: that there are a lot of people using 'anarchy' as a mask for top-down, centralized authority.
I'm not attacking anarchism. I AM an anarchist who is tired of seeing it appropriated by authoritarians.
Then I think instead of saying "This type of people do this bad thing", maybe phrase it as "doing this goes against the values of the people you claim to be a part of".
They did. Why are you tone policing? You're doing exactly what they're saying is bad...
Cope
Lol I literally tagged you as a user who generalizes groups of people unfairly.
"WHAT ARE YOUR CRIMES"
The only time people complain about rules is when they have broken them or intend to break them.
They seem upset for not being able to harass people for some reason, I'm just curious which form of harassment they feel is justified.
Incorrect. There have been plenty of cases where an observer criticizes existing rules and their application due to inherent bias rather than an unfavorable interaction.
People who see wrongdoing and act to stop them without personal gain do exist.
You're right. I suppose I should have said, you don't complain about rules that you agree with. But generally, when someone's on here complaining about being silenced and specifically quotes "People should not be harassed for these reasons:" I'd bet it was because they harassed somebody for one of those reasons and they feel that they should be able to do that.
You're doing so much projection here it's genuinely sad.
Your logic relies on a cherrypicked take of the anarchist code of conduct to manufacture a smear. You selectively cited the list of prohibited behaviors while deliberately ignoring the sections that protect rational discourse. By removing that context, you’ve created a false binary: either one submits to YOUR specific method of centralized policing, or they are a bigot who wants to harass marginalized groups. Which is exactly the kind of behavior I'm criticizing. Waving the anarchist flag because of the good parts (anti-bigotry) while ignoring the difficult parts (personal responsibility, critical thinking).
This is such a fascist take.
"If you speak out against the party then you are an enemy of the people"
"If you do not subjugate under Sharia then you are an infidel"
That's not at all what I am saying. I think you may have become the thing you are raging against.
The lack of self insight is just astounding. This is literally what this post is about. Your black and white thinking and talking points mirrors that of MAGA. You just randomly happened to choose another set of beliefs, but you are every single bit as dogmatic and clueless.
I find this hilarious because you keep raging about people calling someone fascist for not sharing the exact same opinion, yet that's exactly what you're doing, accusing me of being something I'm not because you won't take the time to understand what I'm saying.
No, you are. You are just in denial about it.
It's anarchy in here!
"The only people worried about privacy are those with something to hide."