Lefty Memes
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
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.
- Absolutely no posts or comments meant to relativize(/apologize for), advocate, promote or defend:
- Racism
- Sexism
- Queerphobia
- Ableism
- Classism
- Rape or assault
- Genocide/ethnic cleansing or (mass) deportations
- Fascism
- (National) chauvinism
- Orientalism
- Colonialism or Imperialism (and their neo- counterparts)
- Zionism
- Religious fundamentalism of any kind
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Of course violence works, that's why the system is so dramatically against it when the masses use it.
Now, don't just go around and shoot people because you have been wrongdoed, that won't help anyone.
Sometimes the menace of violence, the possibility of violence, is a much stronger tool. Like you kill and riot only once, but you can strike and unionise, in france they sometimes lock up the "CEO" when they are striking/locking up factories, which shakes out solutions way faster.
The problem is that Americans refuse to unite and organize. That’s why lone wolf shit works - you don’t need to get everybody on board and fight through decades of propagandized minds to get there. You bring up France - France does not have Americas unique problems. What happens in America would never fly in France, they’re willing to burn their whole country down in riots if they need to. Here in America most people are class traitors and have mush for brains because of the insane torrent of endless propaganda. I wish we were like France!
Even organized groups - look at the civil rights movement, or the environmental and animal rights movements. The FBI assassinated civil rights leaders, and there are animal and environmental rights activists in jail with life sentences on terrorism charges (pre 9/11!) for daring to free farm and research lab animals or trying to stop logging of old growth forests by occupying the tree tops.
It’s crystal clear that it’s ok to most Americans for the state to violently repress us, but if we dare fight back even peacefully we’re beaten to shit and worse. France has solidarity, america does not.
Edit - I forgot to respond to this point and feel it’s important enough to come back to:
My father being tortured and murdered for profit isn’t simple wrongdoing. It’s not like a partner cheated on me or I lost my job or a friend turned out to be not a real friend. I’ve had all those things happen and for the most part I’ve been peaceful. What happened to my dad however isn’t a one off thing, its how the system operates. there are likely thousands if not millions of people in “care” homes right now being essentially tortured and abused. Left to rot in soiled clothes, full of bed sores, declining health that needs more intensive care than a care home can provide yet they essentially are human traffickers and keep people there against their will or wellbeing. For profit. You see, if you need the care of a hospital, you won’t get it, because then the care home can’t bill insurance for your stay. I don’t want to get too deep into what my dad went through but it hit all of those points and then some. He was livestock to them, not a person but a resource to be exploited. After he died we sued for malpractice and got a pittance. Enough $ to buy a car. My dad was worth more than a fucking car!
The owner of the care facility (with complaints in numerous states and litigation in at least two) has so far only been given slaps on the wrist in the form of fines. Fines are just the cost of doing business to these parasites and are passed off to the consumer anyway. There needs to be jail time for the rich, not just fines. If this guy goes to jail (he won’t) then there is justice and I won’t need revenge.
I'm sorry if I came about as a non sensitive, you are right in all you are saying.
That said, I always thinks the death penalty is such a cheap way out.
Good luck with all, and don't forget to also live a fulfilling life, I hope you all the best.
I don’t think you weren’t sensitive, I just wanted to make a point about the difference between simple wrong doing / disagreement and social murder. Like the UHC CEO, this guy is also committing a whole lot of social murder for profit in the health care sector, only his company isn’t well known. Also the social murder part being extremely important - there’s a lot of CEOs out there being shitty capitalists, but nobody is saying let’s kill restaurant or auto body shop CEOs because even if they’re awful they’re not causing social murder.
Im gonna quote myself in response to death penalty being the cheap way out:
I support peaceful means of people facing real consequences for social murder, except the justice system - the peaceful, civilized way that everyone agrees would be a much better way to handle things - isn’t working as intended as it’s been corrupted for quite some time and is only getting worse. The punishments - when they rarely happen - don’t match the crimes at all. I mean look at the opiate epidemic, why aren’t the sacklers in prison? Why do they get to murder by the millions and keep their lifestyles? Where’s our hotline from the NY gov to report when we feel threatened? Why does Dylan roof get Burger King and Luigi look like he’s in a fucking blockbuster action movie with fucking nyc mayor Adam’s getting publicity shots staying close in the frame behind him? What the actual fuck is going on anymore
Why is it that corporations have free speech to donate as much money as they want to political causes yet they’re not subject to the death penalty or life in prison like the rest of us?