this post was submitted on 13 Jul 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] 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.


  1. Absolutely no posts or comments meant to relativize(/apologize for), advocate, promote or defend:

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[–] OtakuAllTheWay@sh.itjust.works 23 points 6 days ago (1 children)

‘Member when people tried building there own communes outside the US and the CIA intervened.

[–] Dry_Monk@lemmy.world 4 points 5 days ago

Pepridge Farm remembers

[–] hperrin@lemmy.ca 34 points 6 days ago

Nothing stopping you. Well, except for the federal government and its military.

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 8 points 5 days ago

People holding too much power seem to inevitably decide they need and deserve even more power. Bri'uhn wasn't the first that enslaved and genocided whole populations, nor the only during that time: Spain was arguably more violent and France was another power and riches hungry evil.

[–] fartographer@lemmy.world 18 points 6 days ago

Stop trying to enslave me in a world where my neighbor gets to eat! I wanna live in a world where none of us get to eat, and we work all day to maintain our poverty!

[–] Jiggle_Physics@quokk.au 23 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Remember, the capitalists caused famine all over the place too!

[–] cecinestpasunecommunication@lemmy.dbzer0.com 23 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Okay but they weren't communist about it, so it doesnt count. Stop whining Ireland.

[–] Jiggle_Physics@quokk.au 14 points 6 days ago (1 children)

uproar from India, Bangladesh, The Congo, Kenya, and about 100 other countries

[–] cecinestpasunecommunication@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Yes but they're not white so we don't have to pretend to feel guilty about the atrocities.

[–] elevenbones@sh.itjust.works 9 points 5 days ago

You want to bind my wrists with the shackles of universal healthcare you monster!

[–] sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 6 days ago

Hello, my name is Marc Parella and I am laughably ignorant of the entirety of human history since roughly 1880.

[–] ddplf@szmer.info 12 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Good job, Marc, now you almost get it! You're just a bit confused.

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[–] Malyca@lemmy.zip 8 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Give it a try and tell me how it goes. "If you think you're free, try going into a deli and urinating on the cheese"

[–] mattyroses@lemmy.today 3 points 6 days ago

Shoot James Brady in the back?

[–] Greyghoster@aussie.zone 5 points 5 days ago (2 children)

The Invisible Doctrine does a good job of explaining how capitalism happened and where we are today. Fairly depressing but informative.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/may/29/the-invisible-doctrine-by-george-monbiot-and-peter-hutchison-review-neoliberalisms-ascent

[–] Doc_Crankenstein@slrpnk.net 2 points 5 days ago

Gonna throw in "Debt: First 5000 Years" by Graeber if anyone wants even more historical perspective on how it came to be.

[–] flango@lemmy.eco.br 2 points 5 days ago

hey thanks for the suggestion. I also suggest the amazing book Kicking Away The Ladder by Ha Joon Chang.

[–] Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca 6 points 6 days ago (1 children)

People, people, please. You'll be enslaved no matter what economic system you're under.

[–] Doc_Crankenstein@slrpnk.net 2 points 5 days ago

What an utterly shitty take.

[–] WorldsDumbestMan@lemmy.today 5 points 6 days ago

Oh yea! Exactly! Thing I should just make that community, because I think that if I keep waiting for the perfect design, and free time, I will just accumulate bans, hatters, and chronic diseases instead.

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