this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2024
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Lefty Memes

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An international (English speaking) socialist Lemmy community free of the "ML" influence of instances like lemmy.ml and lemmygrad. 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, and discussion 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)


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" seen on lemmygrad and more specifically GenZedong (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 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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[–] Allonzee@lemmy.world 109 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

"So long as I'm free to exploit you into subsistence, you're free to die in the gutter when you're too broken to produce value for me!"

-The capitalists destroying us and the habitability of the world for any future humans, solely to run up their ego scores.

[–] SLVRDRGN@lemmy.world 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I'm about three-quarters through Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, and I wonder how she would interpret how reality played out in this country, being that her biggest fears would come from the value system she thought of as the solution.

[–] Lemming6969@lemmy.world 9 points 5 months ago

They always double down with a no true Scotsman defense that we didn't go far enough or didn't implement the idea in full. This kicks the can down the line to ensure further exploitation.

[–] Clinicallydepressedpoochie@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (31 children)

We all sit back and act like we know how to fix it all but really we don't. What we do know, and what we need everyone to understand, this ain't it. Everything else we are capable of improving given the flexibility to make nessisary change and allocating the resources to appropriate people who have real philosophies and experience to make the change. Getting everyone on board needs to happen first.

How? How? How?

Stop listening. Stop listening to the internet. Stop listening to cable TV. If someone says nothing is wrong and nothing needs to change they are benefiting from the purposefully broken system. Stop listening.

Listen to your neighbor. Listen to the teachers. Listen to community's. Once we can do all that. Then we need to unite all communities under the common goal of providing rest. The builders have built. The creatives have created. The workers have worked. Now they need to rest. They need to heal. They need to raise children who know what a bright future looks like so they can appreciate this life and their own humanity.

Now, everyone panic and tune out because sadly, I've given you an impossible task and you will never overcome your own programming.

[–] rah@feddit.uk 5 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

Then we need to unite all communities under the common goal of providing rest.

"How? How? How?"

[–] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

First step is to organize. Join an organization, any organization, or form your own.

[–] rah@feddit.uk 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

First step is to organize.

Then what?

[–] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Then, that social movement (organization) puts forth it’s own candidate(s) to displace the corrupt government.

[–] rah@feddit.uk 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)
[–] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

There is a reason Marxists promote reading history and philosophical theory; because the class struggle has been going on for a long time, and there is much we can learn about our current situation from those that wrote about their experiences in the past.

[–] rah@feddit.uk 1 points 4 months ago (6 children)

The issue was how to unite all communities under the common goal of providing rest, not how to learn while suffering. Everyone already knows how to do that. You have nothing to offer.

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[–] oo1@lemmings.world 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

heres some radom impractal ideas.

identify excesses fo power that do not work in the national interest and figure out what stable system can be put in place to regulate those excesses down to lower levels as effectively as possible. simples. /s

regulate banks so that they invest more of your savings in businesses and services that your country needs for your future. (this is a very long term fix as they've spent 40-50 years divesting from your society).

regulate capital gains so that business can not meet shareholder needs with asset price bubbles, only dividends. regulate dividends too. (aim is as Keynes said to avoid "whirlpools of speculation" and see only "bubbles" on a steady stream of investment).

nominal transaction tax (tobin tax), and transaction delay times for all exchanges to stop stock markets being ran so fucking stupidly they do not need to trade that much that often

dissociate commercial banks from building societies separate and minimise home loans- but regulate house prices to prevent mortgage bubble. (/ust accept low gdp growth , gdp is fucking made up number) basically do a load of FDR bank regulation stuff that got scrapped in the 70s/80s under dubious pretexts.

better to promote localised banking and local lending coops and such, then the power to make businesses loans is held closer to the savers and borrowers, and can be more accountable just by being a closer group that interacts mmore frequently.

regulate scarce situations that are hard to replicate , rent controls in centre of town or near transit (or other land use regualtion). try to manage away property bubbles - this is part of the reason businesses become uncompetetive, along with all the other stuff that pushes up cost fo living.

Of course regulation is difficult, prone to corruption, as al) the freedoomers will say. It is after all an excess of power - but it it not the only one and might be the only one with a chance of reducing the ppower of the others unles you cound bloody revolutions every now and again that also end up investing a new set of powerful people.. And it doesn't help that one of your(assuming i'm talking to usa by context) parties just works solely on behalf of al those power mongers that most need regulation; their real neat trick,"govt is shit", "look at us we're govt", "you'd better reduce the power of regulators in case you elect idiots like us again" And that line of reasoning is so successful that the other party imitates it.

So you need a way to make the regulators accountable, and elections are not a necessarily the best way to improve regulation , but they can be part of a wider system to hold the regulatros to account. On a more local scale , something like having to explain themselves and their decisions to random anonymous juries. They should also, as public officials have to submit their income and weath statements to the jury of the people to try to demostrate no bribery.

you dont need perfect, just a framework where it can improve bit by bit, and gradually weed out those with excess power orwho abuse it. which basically needs transparency and accountability at a level and frequency that matches the circumstances at hand.

[–] Clinicallydepressedpoochie@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Oh man seething sarcasm, I'm great at this.

These ideas are actually good. I can't imagine why they won't be implemented immediately.

[–] oo1@lemmings.world 1 points 5 months ago

haha. yeah clinical depression is the most realistic outcome.

[–] KillingAndKindess@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I don't pretend to know the full and total solution, but I do know what need to happen... but I know the historical flashpoints tsld to at has so often forced these issues? Th

[–] rah@feddit.uk 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I do know what need to happen

And what's that?

[–] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)
[–] rah@feddit.uk 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)
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[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Just read theory, it's not that hard, and people have been discussing how to get out of this Capitalist hellhole for hundreds of years.

[–] Clinicallydepressedpoochie@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

You cant even see there is something fundamentally missing, that being the call to action. People rather endlessly argue about for hundreds of years.

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

You mean just vibing a revolution into action?

That's why I am recommending you read theory. For the why of Capitalism's inevitable demise, Wage Labor and Capital and Value, Price and Profit both do a much better job of actually explaining the inherent unsustainability of Capitalism.

[–] Clinicallydepressedpoochie@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I mean, not treading the same path. I mean defying what we think is the inevitability. Human brains are capable of great things but they are not capable of predicting the future. The future needs to be shaped and molded real time.

Your incredgulousness is so fucking bizarre. You see the same thing day after day, with no changeand you are upset. And I tell you change needs to just go ahead and happen. And you rather it not.

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

You're misreading me. Change happens every day. Socialism is the answer

[–] Clinicallydepressedpoochie@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)
[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

By vibing it into existence? Can't. It must be built through organizing and revolution.

Read theory.

[–] Clinicallydepressedpoochie@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

... if you have no will to make it happen. It won't happen.

Say I "read theory" what will that change??

Name one thing that will change other then one more person subscribing to lofty ideas that are nothing more than lofty ideas.

You're the one out here "Vibing to make it happen."

I expect nothing of you. Blood from a stone. Lead a horse to water. Anon posts in the woods and no one's around to upvote.

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Who says I don't have will? You can't vibe material conditions into changing, expecting Socialism to be built by the will of the people is idealism.

You have to build it, with your hands.

[–] Clinicallydepressedpoochie@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I see what's happening here. You want me to absolve you. I asked for people to be conscious of their community and start working towards a common goal. Luckily for you im the absolving fairy.

Let's start the magic. Whoosh. Whoosh. It's surrounding you now.

The idea that people need to work towards a common goal together is illogical. Only brute force can tame the masses.

Now chant!

~I won't lift a finger~ ~I won't lift a finger~

You are now absolved.

Why didn't you just ask?

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Nah, I just want you to know what you're talking about, pretty simple

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