Lefty Memes
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
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] Try to use alt text or image descriptions to allow for greater accessibility
(Please take a look at our wiki page for the guidelines on how to actually write alternative text!)
We encourage 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.
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.
- Absolutely no posts or comments meant to relativize(/apologize for), advocate, promote or defend:
- Racism
- Sexism
- Queerphobia
- Ableism
- Classism
- Sexual assault
- Genocide/ethnic cleansing or (mass) deportations
- Fascism
- (National) chauvinism
- Orientalism
- Colonialism or Imperialism (and their neo- counterparts)
- Zionism
- Religious fundamentalism of any kind
view the rest of the comments
Everyone that I don't agree is a CIA/liberal/tankie (choose your option).
Problem is that for European leftists right wing Russian authoritarian regime is the biggest threat, then USA, then china. But because USA is doing most of their shit far far away, we don't feel it everyday.
For leftist in the America of course that USA is the biggest threat. So they are more kind towards China, and some of them thinks that Russia is not a right wing regime.
Then we have people form Asia, they are fucked the most. On the one hand if you're leftist in China or Russia or north Korea, you will be fucked by the authoritarian governments. And the government don't have any in supporting your rebellion or revolutionary movement.
There's also Africa, a lot of countries are rich in minerals etc, and countries from America, Europe and Asia, and corporations will pay for private armies and terror groups so Africa will be exploited.
And in the end there are tons of bots on leftist servers and boards. And condemning condemning countries like Russia for many genocides and killing their own people even after collapse of the Soviet union, ends up with ban.
So instead of shitting on other people, we should be happy that you will not get banned just for takie, liberal, anarchist views.
Socialist orgs in Europe are pretty much all anti-nato. Liberals are not the left, they are the center-right. The only place in the world that calls liberals "left" is amerikkka.
I assure you that no org nor individual with an anti-nato position thinks Russia is "the biggest threat". The position is held by all of these orgs because US imperialism is the biggest and most dangerous threat to the left in the world responsible for many tens of millions of socialist deaths and has been ever since ww2.
I'm not even sure why you think socialists would care whether european billionaires, amerikkkan billionaires or russian billionaires get to exploit the working class. The nationalist battles over borders just determine who gets to exploit which members of the working class. What matters to socialists is who is harming and preventing socialist movements the most. The position of socialists is that the battles over borders should stop, period, not that one side is better than any other. Taking one side over the other is ultimately just throwing your hat in with one group of billionaires over the other instead of acknowledging the problem causing this is the entire international system.
and regarding all the other shit takes from them have one simple explanation: polish "left"-lib
Yeah it's clearly a nationalist position that lacks self-awareness that it's nationalism. I just kinda wanted to steer through that without an accusatory "you're a nationalist" line that would only provoke extreme defensiveness.
My next step is usually to ask what happens if their country goes socialist tomorrow. Who are the immediate enemies? Who are the immediate new potential trading partners? Where do they get weapons and ammunition from to defend their revolution?
The answers to these questions most people can usually get correct by themselves, without me pointing them out. And these answers lead people to why anti-nato is the position of socialists in europe, and also why socialists in europe are not explicitly anti-russia either. The situation for socialists is not the same situation faced by liberals.
Dang I banned too early 😔
Is all good, anyone questioning it can run through those questions themselves.
I also like to ask people where Cuba gets their weapons, ammunition and fuel from. Also Burkina Faso, Venezuela, Bolivia (under MAS), Iran (who supplies palestinian resistance), DPRK, etc etc. Some of which they'll object to being mentioned in the anti-imperialist camp at all but the question still remains, where do they get their weapons, supplies, fuel and other essentials from and what happens if that place suddenly didn't exist tomorrow because nato magically eliminated it or whatever the fuck goes through these people's heads.
Every single anti-imperialist group in the world requires them to survive. Thus the position is quite complex for anti-imperialists, even those that don't necessarily approve of all actions occurring. But needless to say, nato is certainly the biggest threat to us in the world. Nobody has to like the current situation but understanding the geopolitical reality we exist in is essential.
As for the ban, maybe premature, I try to teach even the baby leftists and assume naivity. I'm often proven wrong about being so patient though.
Agreeing with you, don't have much else to say.
Should have seen that you were trying to do so and since they were in an OK discussion mode and not actually shitlib-y. It's just that my tolerance for that stuff is quite low TBH and I lack the capacity to engage with such patience as you (or god forbid on such a level as Cowbee <3)
USA is a bigger joke than Russia. Could not even start invading Iran. Got it's shit rocked, and went back crying to mommy Israel.
You seem to be thinking how a nationalist (or transnationalist if you simp for the EU) chauvinist liberal...
I'm as far as possible from nationalism.
Perspective depends on region where you live.
In Europe we're not scared that much by USA imperialism, of course USA and Israel imperialism are pushing idiots like Robinson in the UK and so on, but so far they don't have so much power. On the other hand there's very big threat, Russian imperialism. We can critique what USA, Israel, Russia, China and also France and European countries doing around the world, but in the end we know what's the situation.
What this have to do with EU? Nothing. EU is very good for post east block countries and we gain a lot. But this have nothing to do with current situation.
Of your living in America, Russia is probably the last threat, on the other hand USA is the main aggressor. So it's complete different perspective.
Then you have Asia, Africa and do on, and the situation in different.
I'm not even from the USA lol, literally from Europe.
The EU is a union of financial capital and a bastion of it's own reactionary neo-colonialism and imperialism...
Also you don't sound like a socialist TBH
Hearing the word "reactionary" from a self-proclaimed leftist is a red flag, because it's used the same way right-wingers use "woke". Basically most can't define it without looking it up, or explain how it applies to what they're critiquing.
Oh my good lord... where the fuck do you liberals get this kind of garbage from? PragerU?
Actually based on simple observation, like the fact that I'm seemingly the only one here who has defined "reactionary".
And since when do you get to "define" terms that you obviously don't understand?
I've yet to see any evidence that you know what a reactionary is.
Read carefully, shitlib... try to keep up.
Since when do you get to “define” terms that you obviously do not understand?
You're using "reactionary" the same way right wingers use "woke", but you can't admit that. But you also can't provide a definition, because then the label becomes testable.
Again... where the fuck do you shitlibs get this kind of inane garbage from? Ben Shapiro? Jordan Peterson, perhaps?
Given that I'm the only one here who can define "reactionary", I'm the only real leftist here.
Educate yourself, please: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactionary
So you actually read all that and you still don't have the foggiest clue what it is you are talking about?
What's the matter, shitlib? Don't you like it that we have terms for people like you?
I clearly have more of a clue than you.
Does being called a reactionary by actual leftists make you want to cry, shitlib?
You're not a leftist.
So that's a yes?
Have you ever tried not being such a REACTIONARY, shitlib?
Have you ever tried reading a book, lumpenprol?
Are you crying, shitlib?
Are you crying because I called you, an obvious shitlib right-wing REACTIONARY, exactly that which you are - a shitlib right-wing REACTIONARY?
Loser.
Oh, look... the obvious right-wing shitlib REACTIONARY who came on here to pretend they weren't a right-wing shitlib REACTIONARY is sore because somebody on here called them a right-wing shitlib REACTIONARY.
Crawl back to whatever liberal brain-trust sent you here and tell them how mean us radicals were to you because we didn't fall for your crappy, pretend-left REACTIONARY schtick, okay?
Loser.
Better a loser than a REACTIONARY loser, eh shitlib?
Loser
Stop being such a sore loser, shitlib.
Instead, why don't you tell me what it actually is you thought you were going to accomplish here?
Long story. I'll tell you tomorrow. Goodnight.
Okay, so basically, I'm worried about death. Like, what happens after you die? Is there an afterlife, and so on. Have you listened to "Seele Mein" by Eisregen?
Have you ever tried not worrying about death?
It's surprising how inane your comments are. Sort of amusing, though.
Why don't you stop fucking around, and tell me what it actually is you thought you were going to accomplish here?
You're like a poor version of Elon Musk.
Still a sore loser?
Suit yourself, I guess.
Loser.
Projection isn't going to help you.
It's common knowledge for every socialist TBH
A reactionary is somebody who wants to restore a previous status quo. Which us not something the EU is trying to do.
In the socialist/Marxist context it's used differently just FYI
Then what does it mean?
Someone who opposes either an established socialist revolution or is actively defending the capitalist system (e.g. through institutionalized violence, legislation or direct violence through military actions etc. etc.)
Does defending a capitalist system through legislation refer to all legislation aimed to defend the system, e.g. ban on firearms, or just legislation that singles out socialist movements?
I'm assuming institutionalized violence refers to extralegal violence and/or bias in how the law is applied, by disproportionately targeting socialist groups, while turning a blind eye to other groups?
structural violence is more of the idea that all of the wealth that has been accumulated throughout the millenia has been done first with the sword, then with the lance, then with the gun, and of lately, with the bomb. if we ceased all military action of all kinds tomorrow, the intrinsic status quo would be one reflective of a racist, sexist, homophobic, and transphobic class based hierarchy. in order to challenge that status quo we can't tolerate anyone who prevents us from challenging these underlying inequitable hegemonies by disrupting the solidarity of the working people.