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I’ve always found clearing all the purity tests online leftists ask you to jump through to be the tricky part
all the purity tests
You mean basic human decency?
Like, can you give one example of what you're complaining about as an unrealistic standard?
I am pro basic human decency, I just wish more online leftists realize you get things done with a big tent. Perfect is the enemy of good.
Fred Hampton wasn’t killed by the FBI because he had the most stringent purity tests, he was killed cause he was able to convince a lot of people to come under his tent to fight for workers.
I mean... that's most of us. Don't confuse the loud obnoxious minority with reality.
I agree with that, but it pisses me off because the loud obnoxious folks repel new people.
If all it takes is loud and obnoxious to turn you away from your convictions then they weren't very strong to begin with.
Or, you know, it could turn someone away who is honestly ignorant and curious to learn more. But keep being a condescending piece of shit, that'll work out great.
You’re reading into my comment too far. I just said I find it annoying and counterproductive, I didn’t say I’ve changed my convictions.
So....
Does that mean you can't give a single example of what your complaining about?
Personally, I’ve had comments I’ve posted on lemmy.ml deleted for “bigotry” for saying Iran supports Hamas which is an objective fact. It wasn’t even a commentary on policy but I’m still a bigot somehow.
I mean, shit, you even implied I am an enemy of basic human decency for making a mild criticism in a meme sub.
Your first mistake was being active on the .ml instance which generally has been anti-anarchist
Realistically they're generally anti-anyone that disagrees with them. Not just of anarchists, or actual communists for that matter. They just tend to hate anarchists and real communists more. Because they know and can articulate where the bodies are buried better than most others so to speak.
Personally, I’ve had comments I’ve posted on lemmy.ml deleted for “bigotry"
...
I checked the modlog because it takes two seconds, and your account name doesn't seem to be in there?
I expected to see you misrepresenting what you said, but it looks like it was just all made up?
Unless that instance is set up differently, maybe if you gave me the sub I can find it?
Hamas is a problem too and funded through Iran so I think they'd still be an issue even without the settler bs
This is the comment I was referencing. There’s some other comments that have been deleted on .ml which I find fair cause a couple were needlessly agressive when I was having a bad day. I see 9 mod/admin actions against my account on .ml. Can’t speak to why you can’t find it, they’re on there.
You keep replying but you never give real answers to questions...
I just don't give enough of a shit about this to keep going or to get roped into this again with you later.
I gave you the verbatim comment that was deleted, pulled directly from Lemmy.ml’s modlog
You just got schooled in how wrong you were, and you're just showing that you're the exact person we're talking about.
I've seen older people be cancelled or called fascists over the use of outdated words like 'transgendered', without even an explanation. Obviously, that word is now deprecated and considered a pejorative, but it used to be commonly accepted word and was even used within the community.
I've had people call me sexist, because I was critical of Mattel's motives when making the Barbie movie. Mattel is a company run by a man, with an abysmal record on how they treat their (female) employees, and Barbie negatively damages girls' body image.
I've also had people reply to comments in which I paraphrased or literally quoted feminist thinkers like Dworkin, of mansplaining or not being able to understand sexism because I lacked 'lived experience'. It's not a coincidence that plenty of left-wing feminists, were easy prey for right wing ideology and are now virulent transphobes. Eg. JK Rowling.
Being balanced or even slightly nuanced on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is also likely to result in you getting piled on in some terminally online left wing spaces, where people have gone to the other extreme and now seemingly implicitly or explictly support Hamas/Iran. Same thing for Russia/Ukraine.
You also just accused someone of lacking basic human decency, for criticizing what they perceived as the excesses of online leftists.
You also just accused someone of lacking basic human decency, for criticizing what they perceived as the excesses of online leftists.
This was my first thought when reading that comment... smh
It's painfully un-self-aware.
The point about the Mattel CEO was literally a joke in the movie. The director clearly agreed with you.
Also: Mattel execs are on record as saying the Barbie movie isn't feminist. Presumably they don't want to annoy right wing and non-western audiences too much.
Don't get me wrong, fun movie. But there are plenty of reasons to be sceptical of its feminist credentials.
But hey, what do I know. I'm just Ken.
Gun ownership. Leftist groups NEED gun owners, but will turn their nose up at them and call them Nazi's.
The most amazing thing gun culture in the US did was get liberals to disarms themselves willingly by falsely associating gun ownership with toxic masculinity and conservative values.
Read Marx. Acquire guns.
Gun ownership. Leftist groups NEED gun owners, but will turn their nose up at them and call them Nazi's.
Not if they are far enough left (as you allude to) or otherwise practically minded, I've found. We are few but we are out there. Self defense is an intrinsic right of living beings, period, the end.
I can understand what they're saying. You expect hateful shit from the right-wing assholes, and fighting against their bullshit is a worthy cause.
But the left is prickly, including to its allies. Hell, especially to its allies. And it is so much more exhausting when it is coming from your own side.
As an example, when Lil Nas X was accused of faking being gay for, I guess money, or pushing some agenda, he said "I just like dick" and that there's nothing deep to it. People started attacking him for "trans erasure" and such nonsense. The man didn't say he likes all dick, and I'm sure if it were attached to a woman, he wouldn't be about it (and if there was a man without one, he presumably also would not be interested). It was a toss away comment that is easily understood in the context, and people felt the need to attack him for it. It should not bear this level of analysis and scrutiny, but here we are.
It's also a million times worse online, which was the OPs point. I'm a pinko commie by American standards, and I've been called a secret conservative online or downvoted to oblivion for daring to suggest that landlords should exist. The downvotes above just show how prickly and "no true leftist" some people are.
Why exactly do you think landlord should exist?
As an actual communist, I think that's a weird stance.
I'm not him, but the justification I've seen in the past is that some people move to different locations every few months to pursue work or they're in an area temporarily for studies and don't want to be permanently tied down. It was something along those lines. Even if that does justify the existence of *some* landlords, it doesn't justify such a huge supermajority of housing being owned by them.
This happens, there is a lot of liberal left that believes that representation and words can shape the reality. But there is a lot of bad will from OP to generalize it
The purity tests usually come from leftist adjacent groups that actually have nothing to do with left wing ideology. Read Tankies and some extremely small groups of vegans (Most are fine). They for some reason love telling you "Lefties who aren't [INSERT THING HERE] are hypocritical and not real leftists"
Really it's a huge nothing burger complaining about silly people on twitter and Reddit who ultimately do not matter.
They matter because they're loud and given attention.
Being loud and given attention, they can be the only example of “leftists” some people knowingly interact with.
Yep, it serves the wealthy well for people like them to be the things people visualize when they picture "the left".
They do matter. If they didn't countries like Russia wouldn't spend so much targetting them with propaganda and pushing them not to vote or vote against admittedly flawed left of centre parties.
Ahhh, the purity test starts.
I don't know why this didn't dawn on me until just now, but...
One thing the alt right's pervasive bad faith online bullshit accomplishes is wearing down the left making us far more likely to respond with reflexive hostility to any hint of similar behavior. (Edit: often mistakenly)
It isn't just about recruiting, trolling, power moves, "winning" arguments in others' perception, but also fomenting infighting among the left.
You’re right, I think concern trolling is absolutely a factor in the knee jerk hostility for some. I think there are some that probably think I’m concern trolling in this thread right now. Thankfully I think my post history is a decent indication I’m not.
The downvotes are a funny proof. Guess you failed a test....
The only thing you really need to be a leftist is emphathy and a disdain for ignorance, after you have that everything else will fall into place.
False. The only thing you need to be a leftist is empathy, a willingness to learn, and a willingness to teach what you've learned.
Leave your disdain at home. Disdain is what begets purity tests and misunderstandings. Everyone is born ignorant. Don't disdain the ignorant. But don't waste your time with those who refuse to learn.
As hard and frustrating as it can be for those in the west to escape the mental conditioning and brainwashing they all go through. It's still sad to see people do that. Only to be indoctrinated into Marxist Leninist mindsets. Failing to learn from their failures of the last century. Which are often similarly, as bad as the capitalists.