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!
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
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.
"Communism is worker council power plus the electrification of the whole country"
-Vladimir Lenin
Hydroelectric power as a premise to industrialization was one of the core pillars of Soviet socialism, you are 100 years late. Also, 93% of solar photovoltaic modules are manufactured in the People's Republic of China.
And I would have gotten away with it if it wasnt for you meddling commies! Good work comrade
Well, energy has always been important policy, and I happen to be a STEM edgelord who knows his stuff
Well, solar panels are the (a) means of energy production, so in that sense I don't see where any communist theorists would disagree. But please draw me the line from everyone having solar panels to "revolution" without any other Marxist theory.
idk if i succeeded or failed
I'm not sure what to make of your assertion of the state as universally a petrostate. And you haven't touched on the means of solar panel production, let alone any other necessities or commodities (just a mention of maintenance).
What? We have commie leaders? Who? Where?
Oh I mean like Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, etc. The list is long and contentious. Take your pick, theres no wrong answers for my purposes here.
Edit: let's play a fun game, reply with who i left out. I bet I left your favorite out.
Grail?
New entry, points to you for naming yourself
Thank you. Feel free to read My manifesto if you want to see how the next generation of communist thought differs from the previous
Kropotkin!
New entry! That's 1 point to nylo
Lenin, Stalin, Mao I get. Marx? Lenin Stalin and Mao like to use his name while rejecting his philosophy. So it seems odd to lump him with them. But then I suppose it's been a common thing in many western countries forever.
Can you elaborate on how Marxist-Leninists "use Marx's name while rejecting his philosophy?" Lenin's major advances on Marxism include analyzing imperialism as a higher stage of capitalism, something Marx lived to see only the very beginnings of, as well as organizational theory. Lenin represented a return to Marx, considering the Second International had at that point vulgarized Marx into a reformist. What part of Marxism does Marxism-Leninism reject? You specifically mention philosophy, but Marxism-Leninism affirms dialectical materialism, so I assume you mean something else.
Further, Marxism-Leninism is largely an ideology practiced in the global south, not so much the global north. Perhaps I'm misreading you, but you make it seem as though it's largely western, and that this is why it "rejects" Marx. More common in the west are Trotskyists, who still uphold Lenin, or Eurocomms, who also uphold Lenin. The number of Marxists that reject Lenin, even if they disagree with AES countries, is extremely small, period, global north or south.
Hey dude I just have to say that even though I'm more sympathetic to anarchosynicalist thought one of the high points of lemmy for me atm is popping into threads and seeing you (extremely charitably) demolish people who clearly haven't ever engaged with much literature but have strong opinons on it.
Cheers, people like you help us all hone our thoughts.
Thanks, I appreciate it! I genuinely am not trying to demolish anyone, though, I'd prefer if people could cooperatively build knowledge together. The idea of "debate" is so thoroughly ingrained in English-speaking spaces, but it isn't actually a very effective tool for learning, on either side. That's more the reason I'm charitable, I'd rather not have a debate, to be honest, even if that's what I used to do a lot of back in my more lib Reddit days.
Well there you go out charitableing me <3
Nah, you were charitable first!
Oh nice try but you did not add any new names to the list, no points to you
Heh fair enough
This is like when a kid camps out in the back yard to 'run away from home'.
Solarpunk, let‘s go!
And I'll tell you what used solar panels and inverters are cheap as shit on marketplace. Batteries are getting there too.
Man if I had a field it would be littered with cheap secondhand solar panels. Where I live I can maybe get a balcony one
Thats the stuff that gives me hope, keeps me going
Buying commodities is revolutionary
What's not captured by the picture is that these panels are stolen from the mobile police cameras they roll around.
Dismantling the oil industry is revolutionary. And it will improve nearly every facet of life across the globe while be a goal that is achievable and happening right now.
Damn, critical support to Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Tesla, Google and Apple then for promoting and sometimes manufacturing home solar solutions. Truly the most revolutionary of companies!
Woah that's quite the jump. A very strange jump at that. Who said I liked any of those companies?