i was also in that thread and i'm disappointed i couldn't read your last post before it got taken down. it's disconcerting to me at the very least how many "non-partisan" leftists turn into satan's strongest neoliberal soldiers specifically when it comes to some of the most exploited proletarians in the world. it left a sour taste in my mouth as regards hexbear. anyway welcome to lemmygrad!
this post was submitted on 26 Jan 2026
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Comradeship // Freechat
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Welcome and I hope you have as good a time as I have had here, I am still very much in the learning theory as my backing stage because I still have only read the most basic of theory but everyone here has been amazing if I ask any questions including what I now realize are incredibly stupid basic ones
Anyways hope you have a good time and a safe place to be in the chaos that is going on (both the long time should have been expected and the surprises )
Unlocking this to apologize for mistaking who you were and to inform you I have reverted the hexbear site ban. I will be relocking this post and removing it from the hexbear feed to prevent inter-instance drama.
Welcome comrade! I think you will find a very friendly and welcoming community here.
I personally also prefer Lemmygrad to Hexbear. Not necessarily for ideological disagreement with the official line, more to do with how we approach disagreements and debates here.
I find an unfortunate tendency on Hexbear to accept the views of a small number of resident "experts" and not sufficiently question their biases or their sources of information. Here we tend to be a little more rigorous and critical.
Oh you mean xiaohongshu and generally the news megathread comm?
Yes. That account calls China neoliberal and has convinced a large percentage of the Hexbear user base to believe in their kooky anti-China economic theories and general FUD type posts about China. And another user called MarmiteLover who masquerades as a military expert who dismisses anti-imperialist sources and repeats so-called "OSINT" (the fact that many of these "OSINT" accounts are usually connected to Langley, the US military or the Zionist entity is of course never mentioned) that is tainted with imperialist propaganda narratives and pro-US bias.
On Hexbear, a few users like this regularly make long, "expert"-sounding posts with insidiously embedded half-truths that go largely unchallenged and are even regularly praised by the user base due to an appearance of expertise when someone uses technical jargon and writes overly long posts that are too much effort to go through and critically analyze point by point. As a result the accepted consensus on that site has been shifting to implicitly accepting the framing and general impression of world events that has been created by these "experts".
They also react much more panicky and doomer-y because they have an unfortunate tendency to often accept at face value "breaking news" reports and stories put out by imperialist media, and thus they are quick to declare imperialist victories and defeat for anti-imperialist forces.
I have no interest in starting any kind of conflict or drama with Hexbear. If that is the kind of environment they are comfortable with fostering, that is their choice. I'm not going to nor would I advise other non-hexbear users to go there and start arguments and discussions. I am simply happy that we have a different culture here on Lemmygrad. Not only is it more generally skeptical and critical, it is also more focused on the positive rather than wallowing in negativity and doomsaying. This may not generate as much engagement, but it is both healthier and has a better track record.
I agree completely with what you said. I might only add that these people have heavy western centric views(or simply unchallenged racist white supremacist views) and, even though they don't openly shout slurs like the fascists, they do show their racism very discreetly by how they react to certain geopolitical events:
- Endless struggle sessions regarding electoralism in the imperial core where they hype failed tactics just like the liberals.
- Soft criticism to socdems like Mamdani while harsh criticism to the point of exageration regarding the AES like China
- Blatant disregard of non western point of views while glorifying imperialist propaganda narratives and pro-US bias. You can see this when they question about Mamdani even to the point of justifying grotesque actions(anti Cuba and anti Venezuela talking points) while eviscerating China with idealist arguments(example the fact that China has private property).
- Whenever they talk about the AES, they start from the premise that the AES(example China) are neoliberal/capitalist/imperialist or xy buzzword and then go from there to argue about any event with those lenses. If they are unable to achieve their purpose of muddying the waters, they will simply move on or avoid commenting.
For me, the objective of those people is easy to read and it is to demobilize westerners and to destroy solidarity by dehumanizing the oppressed while installing nihilism in the western masses. I have seen this over and over again even. The most brutally recent event right now is with the Venezuelan case where accounts appear in the Telegram channel and deleting every comment after not achieving their purpose.
It just shows how dangerous it can be for online spaces if comrades are not on the lookout for anticommunists dressing reactionary and pro imperialist talking points with leftist/marxist jargon.
💯
Oh is that why i got weird vibes? I remember seeing them post anti-china stuff, but more well worded and backed up with some sources, so it wasn't the usual sinophobic lies and propaganda.
Yet, i got weird vibes from the posts and how people interacted with them and the replies afterwards etc.. I think it is exactly what cfgaussian said; some people are treated as resident experts and not questioned enough.
Welcome comrade! I totally understand you. From my side, I used to participate with my wife in an org in my country, Mexico, that helped women recover from sexual exploitation. While participating in that org, I came to see how much abuse those women and trans receive from the pimps, the human traffickers(in the case of migrants), the clients and even their own families.
Knowing all of this and listening to their stories, it is difficult for me reach the same understanding as a westerner, like those that accuse you of SWERF, does. It is simply too dehumanizing.
Anyway, welcome! Hope you find a home in this community!
Like all liberals Liberal Feminists don't have strong enough arguments to defend their absurd positions. Unable to defend their thoughts with reason they resort to harassment, insults, and other toxic behavior.
I've also been hit with the SWERF label for the exact same reasons. I was also ironically accused of being a TERF at the same time despite being trans myself. Apparently my position on sex work was unacceptable for this reason because so many trans women rely on sex work to survive/transition. I'm expected to support my own community's exploitation, but somehow I'm the transphobic one?
Liberals are insufferable no matter how "Left" (they think) they are.
Haha yes I was told I'm joining the company of transphobes (also being trans myself) which I've not found true at all.
I was unironically introduced to radical feminism by a trans woman who is also a Marxist.
These people have NO idea what they're talking about!
I saw that thread and was quite displeased, to say the least, about the way the users and moderators on Hexbear handled that interaction.
I understand that there is a strong disagreement between various leftist tendencies on this topic. Being accused of being a SWERF and a misogynist for explaining the common ML position on the issue, centring the experiences of sex workers, and genuinely trying to work towards the liberation of everyone who finds themselves as victims of the sex trade is beyond absurd. It's completely unacceptable.
Not to mention the deletion of comments from people explaining their positions, leaving up only the accusations against them, and the relentless dogpiling.
That post has left quite a bitter taste in my mouth and tainted my view of Hexbear as a whole. I still have appreciation for a lot of people there, but it was really disappointing.
I hope you have a pleasant experience here.
Yes, thanks. I didn't even think I was being particularly provocative with my statements or anything. Coming in and accusing someone of being all these different things is a surefire way of alienating people. I genuinely just do want the best for workers, sex workers included.
actual marxists have no business excluding those standing in opposition to sexual exploitation of women. while i consider hexbear users my online comrades there's a reason im on the 'grad.
welcome comrade enjoy the shitposting and occasional effort post
Thank you
Welcome. I'm glad you've joined us.
Welcome comrade. Yes we definitely have a strong difference of opinion there. Many of them I think see women's bodies as kind of treats that they're entitled to access to, thus making up justifications for exploitation with intellectual pretensions. They also had a crypto-zionist on their admin team for a while so they've had some problems. Lot of good people there and generally good but definitely some spots that they really have problems in so hopefully you'll enjoy your time here.
Many of them I think see women’s bodies as kind of treats that they’re entitled to access to
That's a very uncharitable interpretation, I don't believe that it's true at all. I will give them the benefit of the doubt, even if they did not afford us any.
Ultimately, I think that their position aligns with the petty-bourgeois aspects of many Anarchist tendencies, which is predictable and expected when you have a "big tent" leftist community.
Rather than the focus on the sex trade as a whole, and the conditions and relations of overwhelming majority of sex workers around the world, their analysis centres around petty-bourgeois sex workers, mainly in the global north, even if they don't realise it. The concept of "I'm free to do what I want with my body", and thus abolishing the concept of sex work, of having to sell sexual services for money, is infringing on individual freedom.
They would argue that no one should have to sell sexual services for money, but they should be able to if they want to, and this is the part that shows their indifference to and detachment from the material reality of the sex trade in most of the world.
I'm not going to rehash the entire argument, but this is a much more sober and charitable interpretation of their position. It still does not justify their slander against us in any way, and ironically, I can turn around and call them SWERFS and chauvinists since their position on the issue is harmful to the vast majority of people in the sex trade.
It's not something I would do, because I don't believe having an incorrect analysis in good faith makes you a bigot, it just makes you incorrect.
i agree with this take in a general sense but i think as regards that specific argument, the hostility demonstrates a certain lack of concern for the consequences of their positions at least. it's one thing to believe the sex trade is "identical to any other industry", whatever that means. it's another for established users and moderators of a left-wing website to be outright hostile to even the suggestion that some form of commodified labor might not be completely, entirely voluntary. it's difficult for me to assume good faith under such vitriol. i don't want to accuse the general hexbear of anything, or make a character judgement about anyone involved in that argument. but such hostility very much resembles the hostility of the western liberal to things that, on some level at least, they know are true:
In short: Westerners aren’t helpless innocents whose minds are injected with atrocity propaganda, science fiction-style; they’re generally smug bourgeois proletarians who intelligently seek out as much racist propaganda as they can get their hands on. This is because it fundamentally makes them feel better about who they are and how they live.
- Roderic Day, Masses, Elites, and Rebels
- They did not respect, or care about, the actual facts of the matter, except to the extent that they viewed such facts with hostility.
- Being told that the Bad Thing they were purportedly upset about wasn’t real only made them more upset. Proof that the 23rd largest corporation in America was not in league with the Devil made them defensive and very, very angry.
- Fred Clark, False Witnesses
idk how to end this other than to say i'm still very unsure why hexbears have chosen that as their hill to die on. but i know why the general western leftist (e.g. hasan piker) has.
actually on further thought, reaction to living in a puritan/christian society at least explains some of the hostility
Thanks. I did enjoy my time there, and most people in fact I found very pleasant, but it just left such a bad taste in my mind. I don't really understand where they were coming from since nobody really explained their position, but yeah, all I did was explain the Marxist-Leninist view, which I wouldn't think would be so controversial. From what I understand, Hexbear is federated with Lemmygrad, so I'd still be able to see Hexbear and communicate, just "from the other side" so to speak?
From what I understand, Hexbear is federated with Lemmygrad, so I’d still be able to see Hexbear and communicate, just “from the other side” so to speak?
normally yes, but they have banned this account so you can't post there
Oh, weird. I wasn't even banned on Hexbear was the thing, at least as far as I'm aware.
edit: nvm, wrong user apparently lol
edit mk.II
yeah, you're right, that is weird
Correct. Feel free to subscribe to their communities as well if you'd like so you can see that content. Their news community in particular is quite active.
Heya! There's a lot I could say, but since we're off to a new start I just wanted to chime in and say let's try to build something better! Perhaps a bit more post-irony poised?
I think the internet (and many of the world) is lacking in genuine self expression, many people I've known irl just outright don't use it anymore, because it became in their words "too toxic". It's expected that these behaviors would somewhat carry over to new places we try to create.
I hope this place ends up leaving a more positive influence on the world and you enjoy your time here.
Oh shit, did I miss one of these? Somebody spil the jice for me. 
I'm not really trying to start drama or anything, honestly.