this post was submitted on 03 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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[–] Objection@lemmy.ml 2 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

Well, let's start by establishing the most basic and generous standard possible: that materially supporting the mass killing of an ethnic group is disqualifying for the highest office in government. If you can't agree with that, then you simply disagree with the idea of holding politicians to any standard whatsoever.

[–] Zephyr@sh.itjust.works 0 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

I think I've personally already done so not just for one genocide but all the current genocides as well as any other. Now I have a sneaking suspicion that alone is still insufficient. What else do you dream of in a left representing candidate? What do you believe would be sufficient such that one doesn't really hear the argument they're a fake or phony? What is the goal exactly.

[–] Objection@lemmy.ml 2 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (1 children)

What do you believe would be sufficient such that one doesn’t really hear the argument they’re a fake or phony?

Nothing would be, and that's a good thing. You're saying you don't want to hear the argument that they're a fake or phony. In other words, everyone would have to be convinced of their authenticity. That's an impossible standard, and probably wouldn't even be a good thing. People should be skeptical of politicians, even when they're saying good things.

Put left and right aside for a second. Let's assume that everyone is just evaluating a politician's character. Obviously, different people are going to have all kinds of different assessments of any person's character. Now, if we bring left and right back, then should we not evaluate people's character just because they're saying things we want to hear?

In the US, we are so starved for anyone saying anything remotely good that there's this expectation that everyone should immediately rally around anybody who says anything good. But the goal isn't just to have people say good things, but to do them, and that means critically evaluating them. Not doing that is how you get Sinemas and Fettermans.

[–] Zephyr@sh.itjust.works 1 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

I never said that. I was asking what that criteria would be. I so far haven't said anything about my own personal desire. Also I never specified it just being speech. It's just an open question to you individually what would be sufficient to be considered a worthwhile left leaning candidate. Honestly beyond my statement that some portion of people are always discontent and that I denounce genocide I really haven't said anything about my own personal views in any comments on this thread.

[–] Objection@lemmy.ml 1 points 7 hours ago

That's a really general question and I can't speak for anyone but myself. And if you're going to be so cagey about your own views then it seems strange to interrogate mine.

I was happy to vote for Brandon Johnson for mayor of Chicago and he seems alright afaik. I would vote for Mamdani if I lived in New York. But even if my assessment is that they're worth voting for, it doesn't mean I have a problem with anyone questioning their authenticity or highlighting concerns about them.