Need a politics-free safe space? It’s called “going for a walk”

  • TawnyFroggy [she/her]@hexbear.net
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    1 year ago

    Need a politics-free safe space? It’s called stop supporting people who want me dead.

    Like I genuinely get mad when people say stuff like “I don’t want politics in my x” or whatever, because YEAH. ME FUCKING TOO. Do you know how much I would love not feeling on the defensive at all times due to the pending casual extermination of people like me that you are either supporting or ignoring??? If all the libs wanted me to be a lib like them they could have simply not made me life hell.

  • dartos@reddthat.com
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    1 year ago

    Lemmy has some very aggressive communists.

    I’ve been lucky enough to dodge the crazy right wingers though.

      • dartos@reddthat.com
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        1 year ago

        I think that’s awful an immature behavior. When you fight idiocy with aggression (at least on social media) you just get idiots who think they must be right and start truth social or something

          • dartos@reddthat.com
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            1 year ago

            I usually just ignore them.

            I find that a lot of crazy right wingers do it to “own the libs” or get a rise out of their supposed enemies. It’s all just a sports game to people like that.

            If you ignore them they get bored and stop being so staunch in their awful beliefs. When you fight with them it makes them feel like they’re right. You end up forcing them to rationalize every shitty position.

            Almost nobody posts on the internet trying to challenge and reconsider their beliefs, so it’s not like you’re going to change their mind anyway.

            I mean that’s what I think, at least

            • BurgerPunk [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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              1 year ago

              I usually just ignore them.

              Does ignoring the fascists make them go away? Please.

              If you ignore them they get bored and stop being so staunch in their awful beliefs. When you fight with them it makes them feel like they’re right. You end up forcing them to rationalize every shitty position.

              So now you’re accusing us of making fascists more fascist, as an excuse for your ridiculous theory of just ignoring fascism.

              like you’re going to change their mind anyway.

              Its not even about changing their minds. Its about forcing them out of shared spaces. Fascists should driven out, shamed, harassed, and redacted.

              What you think is lib bullshit that gets your spaces infiltrated and taken over by fascists and reactionaries.

              You want to ignore them fine, but don’t condescend to people who confront them and drive them out of shared spaces as if you have a more “mature” solution. Your solution is literally “if i close my eyes they go away” baby logic

            • AntiOutsideAktion [he/him]@hexbear.net
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              1 year ago

              When you fight with them it makes them feel like they’re right. You end up forcing them to rationalize every shitty position.

              Literal fascist talking point. “Look what you made me do”

              I mean that’s what I think, at least

              Investigate before you start thinking next time. Are trans children out there looking for fights just by existing or is your belief that fascists need to be provoked first founded on nothing but bullshit?

              • dartos@reddthat.com
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                1 year ago

                Yknow I’m talking about on social media platforms, right?

                Frothing at the mouth raging at someone on a social media platform doesn’t do anything but cause more radicalization, so I just ignore people instead. I don’t spend most of my life fighting with people on the internet over politics.

                • AOCapitulator [they/them, she/her]@hexbear.net
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                  1 year ago

                  Frothing at the mouth raging at someone on a social media platform doesn’t do anything but cause more radicalization

                  Are you deadass actually suggesting that people are transphobic ableist nazis because communists go after nazis online?

                  or are you saying that it radicalizes more people into avid antifacsist communists, which is an unambiguously good thing (unless youre on team nazi)

                  This is a real question, please answer.

                • BurgerPunk [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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                  1 year ago

                  I don’t spend most of my life fighting with people on the internet over politics.

                  You won’t push back on fascists, but you can’t shut up when pushing back against people who believe in pushing back fascism.

                  cause more radicalization

                  Its been pointed out multiple times now that this is literally a fascist talking point. Pushing back against fascism is not what makes people fascist. In fact its how we protect the targets of fascism on shared spaces online or off.

                  As has also been pointed out to you some people just existing is seen as an incitement by fascists. What are they supposed to do? They can’t just ignore threats and the invalidation of their humanity. That you can shut your eyes to that says a lot about you.

        • HornyOnMain [she/her]@hexbear.net
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          1 year ago

          Regardless of handwringing about it, the fact remains that we’ve driven out and proud fascists off of lemmy instances that we’re federated with. The simple existence of hexbear pulls the Lemmy overton window so far left that social democrats are now the right wingers - this is a good thing.

        • UlyssesT [he/him]@hexbear.net
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          1 year ago

          immature

          The most maturity obsessed internet people, like you, act like smug adult children while policing the maturity of others. smuglord

    • Wogi@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Hey I’m not an aggressive communist. I like to think I’m a pretty laid back communist.

      I mean unless we’re talking about the rich. But like my whole political ideology kinda hinges on aggression in that direction so…

      • abraxas@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        I mean unless we’re talking about the rich. But like my whole political ideology kinda hinges on aggression in that direction so…

        I think the common Communist definition of “Rich” and Marx’s might differ vastly, and I think the vagueness of the word is half the reason. I see too many Communists calling for the death to (for example) computer programmers because many of them are able to save up a couple million by retirement. I know a few that ended up with $10M cash because they worked for a profit-share startup. While I’m not an expert on Marx, I’m pretty sure that’s not what he meant when he referred to the bourgeoisie.

        Hell, I don’t think he ever predicted the massive number of “petite bourgeoisie” that we have now in much of the west, people who put in 60-80 hours simply to live the same life the rest of us live but not have to obediently answer a boss. I’d do that if I could. You’d think Communists could make allies of both the successful proles (like programmers) and the petite bourgeoisie.

        If you draw “rich” somewhere close to the $100M mark or higher and include some asterisks on the ones you think should be murdered in the streets (assuming that’s what you meant by “unless we’re talking about the rich”), maybe most people will agree you’re not an aggressive communist (but still be terrified of you like we are of anyone who wants to kill someone for who they are). If you’re going to look at a grandma who has $2M in savings after her husband dies, the world’s got problems with you.

        I mean, if you want to peacefully dismantle people like Musk, then I’m 100% on board with you. If you would support someone taking sudden and violent force to him, as much as I think he’s a douche, that’s why we use the word “aggressive”.

        • Facebones@reddthat.com
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          1 year ago

          And yet nobody minds the aggression of capitalism and the right on anybody other than well off cishet white men 🤔

          Across the country LGBTQIA people are being actively censured, stripped of their right to exist, and outright physically assaulted. There’s no concerted trend trend to bitch about THAT violence, but mention a guillotine and half the fediverse comes out to cry about how we’re all just meanie tankies out to murder anybody who makes more than minimum wage.

          • abraxas@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            And yet nobody minds the aggression of capitalism and the right on anybody other than well off cishet white men 🤔

            Really? NOBODY minds that? I can’t be pro-LGBTQIA without believing that any possible system except strict communism will work? You’re talking black & white thinking, the same as the anti-LGBTQ extremists. There are miles of Left, even far left, that aren’t Authoritarian Communism (that isn’t authoritarianism but does involve Dictatorship of the Proletariat and the exertion of authority. I was fucking THERE, marching there, when they legalized gay marriage in my state, one of the first in my country. I had a good friend be in the first 50 gay marriages in my state. Does it not count if I’m not a Tankie? All my friends who were out there risking their safety against the Catholic alt-right violence in my state didn’t count?

            Look, you touched a nerve here, and I’m trying to take a breath. Maybe I misread you. Are you genuinely trying to say that you can’t oppose far-right violence without being a Communist? Or (perhaps just as bad) are you trying to say that if I’m not ok with violence against queer and transgender individuals that I need to be ok with violence against all liberals?

            And I’d like to quantify that I got hit this morning with a dozen replies putting me in the “liberal them” pile, basically agreeing that if I don’t strongly support violence against the non-Communist supermajority, I’m a liberal and have no right to call myself a leftist. I hate the tearing down of the pacifist Left I keep seeing.

        • Wogi@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I have no problem with an individual acquiring wealth on the fruit of their own individual labor. The computer programmer getting a buy out from a venture capitalist has successfully gamed the system without being personally responsible for harm to others. At least directly. Usually.

          My problem is with people who exploit the labor of others for profit. No billionaire earns that last zero without causing harm. They perpetuate violence for profit, knowingly. That violence can take a lot of forms, from unsafe working conditions all the way down to actual fucking slavery.

          The thing is, you can’t participate in capitalism without either extreme ignorance or at least a little complacency towards that violence. And fine, there’s little to nothing most of us can do about it. You exist in this system, you’re a part of it. You’re either ok with others doing violence on your behalf so you can have a bit of chocolate in your breakfast croissant, or you aren’t.

          I don’t see a peaceful remedy to this problem. We can talk about theory, about “yeah just organize and vote” until we’re blue in the face but the reality is that system is actively rigged against us. We can talk about organizing your workplace and demanding better conditions, but that system is actively rigged against us too, even if you’re already in a union.

          We are actively rocketing towards a very bleak future and every passing day without cataclysmic change only pushes it down the line. And every day we push it back, it increases in magnitude.

          So frankly, if someone is going to commit violence on my behalf, I’d rather it be directed at the problem than directed at my peers in the working class, wherever they may be.

          • abraxas@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            My problem is with people who exploit the labor of others for profit. No billionaire earns that last zero without causing harm

            I’m mostly on board with you. But I’d like to cite “Notch” (of Minecraft) as an example of someone who earns the last zero without causing harm. Pure fucking luck? Sure. Should be part of a society that will redistribute his wealth? Definitely. Perpetuating violence for profit? I dunno what he’s doing now, but he wasn’t when he got that billion.

            The thing is, you can’t participate in capitalism without either extreme ignorance or at least a little complacency towards that violence.

            As a demsoc, my whole position is described by stopping the violence from within. There are parts of capitalism that are palatable, though it will inevitably end up in a horrible state if left to stagnate. But if I had to choose between universal healthcare and welfare for all and a violent revolution that fewer than 10% of people actually want, I think the former is a better option. And despite me having a lot of the same goals as the groups seeking that revolution, they still terrify me.

            You exist in this system, you’re a part of it. You’re either ok with others doing violence on your behalf so you can have a bit of chocolate in your breakfast croissant, or you aren’t.

            Please understand that this terrifies me. The black & white no-middle-ground thinking is the foundation of so many atrocities. That idea that you cannot improve capitalism, or that a “better capitalism” is still identical to “others doing violence on your behalf so you can have a bit of chocolate” is the kind of madness that leads to authoritarian regimes. I’m against capitalism in general. I’m also against a smallish number of people with guns replacing capitalism with something else.

            I don’t see a peaceful remedy to this problem.

            Can you acknowledge that a state that over 90% of humans would be happy with is still within “the problem” for you? If not, please understand that THIS is why most people incorrectly batch Communism with Fascism. If so, please understand why you having a problem is the problem and you need to learn to differentiate between the Bidens and the Trumps. Biden is “the other side”. Trump is satan.

            We can talk about theory, about “yeah just organize and vote” until we’re blue in the face but the reality is that system is actively rigged against us.

            Let me be clear about this. I’m part of the same category batched as “progressives and leftists”. WE represent about 9% of the population in my home country. That part is unfortunately Democracy working as designed. Not rigged. WE should represent a larger percent of the population, but unlike Billionaires and Church Leaders, we can’t seem to find common ground between Far Left V1 and Far Left V2.

            But you’re right. With less than 6% of people in your country supporting your particular views, voting is not the answer. But, IMO, neither is violence. If 6% of the country manages a coup, I will not be happy no matter how much of their views I agree with. Because that’s an authoritarian regime.

            We are actively rocketing towards a very bleak future and every passing day without cataclysmic change only pushes it down the line. And every day we push it back, it increases in magnitude.

            Everything you say here I agree with. But if we can’t get the support for “very bleak future” under 90%, then you’ve failed even if you temporarily succeed.

            So frankly, if someone is going to commit violence on my behalf, I’d rather it be directed at the problem than directed at my peers in the working class, wherever they may be.

            My wife’s best friend is Petite Bourgeoisie, she owns a breakfast diner near the local project. She makes less than her workers in all but the most perfect months. I have no problem with her. I have problem with anyone who will make her choose between surrendering her freedom not to answer to an ownership structure (even a communal ownership structure), or “going up against the wall”. Ironically, it is the part of me most sympathetic to the goals of communism that support her attempted independence from private ownership. I have, on many occasions, been told she would be in line for death or disenfranchisement. Do you understand my reservations? I PREFER an imperfect capitalism if that is the only alternative. And you might not have meant it, but you came across as saying that’s the only alternative, and by way of violence.

            • Eldritch@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Whether or not notch directly hurt anyone himself. (He is now) The money he was paid was blood Money derived from persecuting destroying and monopolizing the market on Microsoft’s part.

              • abraxas@lemmy.ml
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                1 year ago

                So are you or are you not advocating for the murder of Notch? If so, I will oppose you at all costs as I would any extremist. If not, then what exactly are you disagreeing with me about?

                • Eldritch@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  No. Definitely not as long as he will help to work to make a more just and amicable Society. However if he or others try to violently oppress or push everyone down. All bets are off. One of the things these wealthy people need to remember is that we far outnumber them. And their money only isolates and protects them as long as we are marginally content. Should we ever get focused enough to the point to come for them. They stand no chance. So it’s in their interest to work with us. I don’t care if they have a slightly better life than average. So long as people aren’t homeless and Starving in the streets.

        • GeneralVincent@lemmy.world
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          You frame it as killing someone for who they are (rich) while the aggressive communist frames it as what the rich have done (destroy countless lives for personal monetary gain)

          Not saying that it’s ok, I wouldn’t condone murder in a public setting of course. Just saying :)

          • abraxas@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            I’m not ok with the death penalty for serial killers and rapists, and I think the laws we have now (if they were enforced) cover for corruption.

            I have a rule. No matter how shitty the rules, nobody should die for playing by them. Ex Post Facto protections are a hallmark of preventing justice from being another name for authoritarian persecution. Of all people, it tends to shock me that Communists struggle to see that when they are the first to back extreme versions of ACAB-attitudes.

            I know rich people who are… just fucking rich and that’s it. Lottery, good job. Smart little investment. Most rich people don’t destroy lives directly for monetary gain. Is there an indirect effect between wealth distribution and suffering? SURE, but holding someone accountable by violence for something they indirectly effected when it was legal? I just can’t see it no matter how they frame it.

            It’s like COVID opposition. When we didn’t have laws against their bullshit (COVID spreader parties?) it is unjust to now go back and pass a law to punish there behavior merely because it caused hundreds of thousands of extra death.

    • Zeth0s@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      From what I see, it’s full of wannabe rebel communists, who claim to be communist because they like the idea of revolution. The type of people that think that wallstreetbets is communist because “they fight the system”.

      Marx and gramsci are turning in their grave reading some lemmy post

    • xploit@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      A whole bunch of these self proclaimed “communists” are supporting trump/trumpism…started with unfunny memes and well, I think we can all guess where they’re all going to end up.

      The funniest part is arguing about current “forms” of communism and capitalism and not realizing that it’s just the same shit from different assholes and a far cry from either.

  • axont [she/her, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    1 year ago

    I’m getting the impression from Lemmy that there’s an overrepresentation of the particular demographic of comfortable middle-aged bookish software engineers who live in the US or Canada.

    • bigboopballs [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      comfortable middle-aged bookish software engineers who live in the US or Canada.

      That seems to be like 95% of both reddit’s and lemmy’s (or some other federated instances’) user-bases.

    • TrustingZebra@lemmy.one
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      1 year ago

      On the other hand there’s also an overrepresentation of tankies. I don’t think those are the same people.

        • abraxas@lemmy.ml
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          What word would you prefer to someone who tells you to your face that they intend to “put you up against the wall” and then asks if you “know what that means, you fucking lib”?

          I mean, I’m a demsoc, and of the last 20 death threats I have received in my life, 15 came from people who identify as Communist-Leninist. PLEASE give me a better word for them.

          • SexMachineStalin [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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            1 year ago

            Funny because of the dozens, if not hundreds, of death threats I’ve gotten, practically all of them come from zionists, NAFOs, keyboard nazis or the occasional trumpeteer.

          • HornyOnMain [she/her]@hexbear.net
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            1 year ago

            What word would you prefer to someone who tells you to your face that they intend to “put you up against the wall” and then asks if you “know what that means, you fucking lib”?

            Based

          • ProfessorOwl_PhD [any]@hexbear.net
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            1 year ago

            You don’t know the difference between a demsoc and a socdem. You’re not any kind of socialist, just a lib who likes the idea of being seen as leftist.

            • abraxas@lemmy.ml
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              And I bet you’re fun at parties. Please oh great psychic, tell me more about myself?

              And actually, I do know the difference between demsoc and socdem. The formal definition for Social Democrat is “a supporter or advocate of a socialist system of government achieved by democratic means.” That we are constantly painted as “filthy liberal” for wanting to respect the will of the majority is a disappointing and disgusting lie. And the ONLY people who accuse socdems of being fake leftists? TANKIES. Who are not, by any meaningful definition, more left than those of us with a soul.

              The only way I’m not a leftist is if your version of leftism says “fuck people, freedom, or democracy”. In **your ** version of leftism, are you ok with being the 1% ruling by force against 99% who hate you? Think very carefully before replying to that.

              • AntiOutsideAktion [he/him]@hexbear.net
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                1 year ago

                And I bet you’re fun at parties

                smuglord

                Social Democrat is “a supporter or advocate of a socialist system of government achieved by democratic means.”

                That’s what a demsoc is. Social democrats support capitalism with social programs.

                Who are not, by any meaningful definition, more left than those of us with a soul.

                Speaking of succdems look how even in their mind palace they’re already dehumanizing anyone to the left of them. This helps when they cooperate with and enable fascist parties like they do every time in history. “Tankies don’t have a soul and they’re going to kill you first so it’s okay to let the nazis kill them actually” I’m a REAL leftist :D

                • abraxas@lemmy.ml
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                  Social Democrat is “a supporter or advocate of a socialist system of government achieved by democratic means.”

                  That’s what a demsoc is. Social democrats support capitalism with social programs.

                  You should tell Webster they’re wrong. And Wikipedia. And Brittanica.

                  By their definitions, a Socdem’s insistence on using democracy at all costs is what differentiates between them and demsocs.

                  By why is it so important for you to insist everyone use your nonstandard definition of the terms? Also, your calling us “succdems” tells me exactly everything I need to know about your permission. If I’m not willing to murder people, I’m less than human to you enough to be given a silly nickname.

                  “Tankies don’t have a soul and they’re going to kill you first so it’s okay to let the nazis kill them actually” I’m a REAL leftist :D

                  At this moment, you’re on the wrong side of the “First they came for” poem because you’re the one rejecting the Left.

              • ProfessorOwl_PhD [any]@hexbear.net
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                1 year ago

                God, you’re such a big dumb idiot of a lib. That’s the definition of a democratic socialist, not a social democrat - you can tell by the way one of the groups are call socialists and the others are called democrats. Not only did you mix up your definitions, but you never actually managed to define democratic socialist - do you really know what the difference is if you can’t even remember to talk about one of them? The answer, scrolling down your post history to where you called yourself a socdem, is no, you think they’re the exact same thing, because you don’t even have a surface level understanding of leftism. It only takes 5 minutes in leftist spaces to discover that anarchists, socialists, and communists of all flavour hate socdems for exactly your “no really, somehow we’ll manage to vote socialism in this time” attitude, but you’ve never spent a single minute in them, because you’re not a leftist.

                My version of leftism is called Marxism and is based in historical reality and current material conditions. Your version is fantastical utopianism that’s convinced the elite are just going to give up the reigns any day now.

          • ThereRisesARedStar [she/her, they/them]@hexbear.net
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            1 year ago

            Death threats are an inappropriate and disproportiate response but have you considered that it is because you’re more irritating to the left than you are to the right? Especially given how right wingers historically are massively more violent?

      • Nakoichi [they/them]@hexbear.net
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        1 year ago

        Oh fuck off lol. The biggest instance literally preemptively removedd from everyone left of Bernie Sanders. Go back to reddit if you’re afraid of getting called out for being politically illiterate.

      • the post of tom joad@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Frankly i don’t think there’s nearly enough tankies to offset the neolibs but i have a feeling I’m in the minority. Eh! Fun times we’re in

        • abraxas@lemmy.ml
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          I’m a demsoc. I want to respect Communism more, but I never get death threats from liberals and do occasionally get death threats from Tankies.

          It sucks because I feel they’d make a good ally to compromise with if they weren’t hoping to have me executed for not supporting an authoritarian seizure of power.

          • the post of tom joad@sh.itjust.works
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            Well, i can’t speak to your experience but I’m a commie who doesn’t dig a forced central planning authority. Or death threats even!

            For my part i get called a “traitor” and such by libs often, simply for criticizing the DNC et al.

            But your point stands, no death threats.

            • abraxas@lemmy.ml
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              Well, i can’t speak to your experience but I’m a commie who doesn’t dig a forced central planning authority. Or death threats even!

              Well that’s a breath of fresh air. That’s very different from what I’ve seen. I do have to point out what I said elsewhere, that I feel Communists have a responsibility to speak against violent communism, the same way “good cops” can only be good if they speak out against bad cops. (I know how most Communists feel about police, but at least I hope you can appreciate the intent of the parallel)

              For my part i get called a “traitor” and such by libs often, simply for criticizing the DNC et al.

              I think using the word “traitor” in a situation like that is terrible. I do take it personally if someone treats the DNC as “just as bad as Trump” after he managed to cause an unprecedented amount of devastation between his immigration policies, “pay me” COVID handling, and open hatred of marginalized groups and “great people on both sides” support for groups like the KKK… But as much as I am disappointed when people put even a moderate like Biden in the same boat as him, I wouldn’t use the word “traitor”.

              But your point stands, no death threats.

              I would love if I met more Communists who are more willing to have constructive conversation with the other Leftist groups, instead of the ones that group all of us in a wide-net neoliberal basket that includes everyone from Bernie Sanders to Adolf Hitler. So, thank you :)

          • SnowdenHeroOfOurTime@unilem.org
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            By the silent downvote I take it that you think getting so many death threats is normal and not possibly linked to being an extremely weird person who argues with perhaps even weirder people

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              Which “silent downvote” are you talking about?

              And how exactly did you conclude I’m a “weird person” in this scenario? Obviously I’m arguing with weirder people, we’re talking about tankies.

              EDIT: Just looked through your post history and cannot seem to find any I downvoted.

            • abraxas@lemmy.ml
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              You have my sympathy. Even when I was actively involved with pro-LGBTQ movements, there were people marching for rights that that didn’t respect bisexuals.

          • SnowdenHeroOfOurTime@unilem.org
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            Do you ever think maybe it’s weird that you get many death threats? I think have ever had one in my life and I’ve conversed with many many mentally… unhealthy people

            • abraxas@lemmy.ml
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              I’m a Social Democrat, who used to be a Democratic Socialist. The Right sees me as a Communist and McCarthyism kicks in. Did you hear about the “Physical Removal” movement? A meme-like movement about giving the Left helicopter rides to the middle of the ocean. I lived in a farm town where 40% of the voters were overcompensating for the Right not being able to win a rural area by being very outspoken anti-left.

              And then, the Left. When I considered myself to be a demsoc, I tried to hang out in LSC on reddit. Not sure if you know it, but they eventually got banned for all the death threats coming out of there. There is an attitude around some percent of Communists that non-Communist lives don’t matter. They might be a minority, but they’re outspoken.

              That was what got me to realize the flaw in being a demsoc, and I shifted laterally (NOT to the Right as several people like to pretend) to Social Democrat. Then I got more death threats because Communists have a hard-on of insisting Socdems are literally the same category as fascists.

              I DO think it’s weird that I’ve gotten and get death threats over my views, and I understand why so many people my age have given up having any views at all and just become “I just vote a party and go about my day” folks that are part of the problem.

    • TokyoMonsterTrucker@lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
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      Point me to a time/place when politics were not completely intertwined with meme communities.

      Oh, right. That doesn’t actually exist.

        • cynetri (he/any)@midwest.social
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          The prevelance of computers are inherently linked with the corporate desire to minimize cost and maximize productivity and profit. The origin of computers comes from military use; first seen in WW2 to calculate angles for artillery use and crack codes as with Enigma. Later, financial and educational institutions saw an ability to reduce labor cost by using computers to automate some record keeping. Why would they be interested in reducing cost? Capitalism, of course! And who were the ones programming these machines? Mostly, wealthy white men. You see, because computers were still giant, expensive machines, they required a college education to learn to use them. At this point, this was the 50s/60s, and non-white people had very little wealth due to, yknow, all that discrimination stuff. Plus, wealthy people especially back then were also very misogynistic (“i hate my wife” jokes, anyone?) And these wealthy whites were sometimes passionate for the industry, and as computers miniturized, they brought these minicomputers home, where they could use them for much more casual use. Enter the 70s, and these computer users start to make video games. Companies for this new fad start to show up. Fast forward a decade and people start making these new home computers play recorded audio and videos too, and before long, the baby dances. But not everyone had the money for home computers in the 90s, so not everyone is aware of the baby - which is where the discrimination part plays in. Most of the people who experienced the dancing baby in its prime were wealthy, majority white families, so the experience was unfortunately not universal. Or fortunately, idk lmao

          Of course I’m stretching super hard, but politics are everywhere when you look into it.

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        Apologies for the sin of linking Reddit:

        https://www.reddit.com/r/NonPoliticalTwitter/

        Sometimes humans do stuff that are not at all related with politics. But we are masters of linking any non-political action to political arguments. (The classic ‘I like pancakes.’-‘So you hate waffles!’-problem)

        Sometimes I just want to have a space to engage with funny memes without the mental strain of filtering out political comments.

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          just a random assortment grabbed from their top week:

          yeah the american lawn is totally not a political topic

          also yeah totally deriving joy from sabotaging megabillion dollar companies with collective action isn’t political

          neither is trespassing as revenge for corporations eating up public areas

          and what about a police force so sprawling and weaponized that we use it to reprimand children who make jokes?

          sure, it may seem a little contrived to you, but when we talk about how a fish who has been in water all its life can’t actually see the water, that’s how we believe liberals are with their own politics - you believe there’s no politics there because you’ve only ever been immersed in your own politics for the entirety of your life.

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            I get, and largely agree with you, but the lawns and mall jewelry stores is a bit of a stretch. The first thing that comes to mind for the lawns (in the context of the meme) is people not wanting to rake. Most people don’t look at a patch of grass and conflate it with it’s political underpinnings. And the jewelry store is just about overcoming the mild discomfort from a very minor break of social etiquette. The meme and the act itself aren’t consciously political.

            Sure, if you think about them for a little bit, the implications become obvious. But these images aren’t meant to be thought provoking treatises on the nature of society; they’re quippy, topical jokes meant to make you blow a little air through your nose in amusement. Fwiw I’m not bothered by the amount of clearly political posts on Lemmy, this is the first place I’ve found political memes that are actually decent (for the most part). But they’re not for everyone and even people that do like them would like non-political content on occasion. It can be a bit of a pain to find that here

            • Greyscale@lemmy.sdf.org
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              If you want to understand the lawns thing, try ordinary things video about lawns. And levvitt towns… And white flight… And racism.

              • BarrelAgedBoredom@lemm.ee
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                I know and understand the political history of American lawns. What I was saying is that the meme itself, while existing within that context, is not consciously political. Life and society is complex, if you think about anything for long enough you can make a political point about it. Just because there is an underlying political narrative behind things like mall jewelry stores and American lawns, does not mean every single meme or conversation about those things is or has to be political.

                Look through my comment history, you’ll find I am very much not opposed to talking about politics

          • Scribbd@feddit.nl
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            I haven’t been on this sub for a while. It was once my go-to for just memes.

            If this is truly the top of recent week, the the sub has gone downhill in both moderation and content, which is sad to see.

            Also thanks for proving my point. You somehow forced gardening into a political topic. A childhood prank into a political topic. We are truly master of politicing the most inane things.

            The other topics I cannot say. Existing in a society is political. Breathing is political.

            I just wish to see a place where a meme about gardening is met with conversation how things are for others. Ex: ‘This is how I do gardening in [location], I dream of having a nice field of [local species] to support the bees.’

            And not have it devolve into political us-vs-them tribalism and hostilitites. Ex: ‘Those lawns are a product of American liberal colonialism! I hate you and you should feel ashamed!’

            That these images are hosted on lemmygrad.ml is very telling and just supports the general feel that users interacting from there are just interacting to create hostility and dissonance.

            Not everybody, sure, I had conversations that were pleasant. I even read Marx summarised work as a suggestion from one from the lemmygrad-instance. And someon corrected me on a misconception I had from it.

            Edit: last but crossed out. Was stuck in primary response. I recognise that threads reviewed also has a lot of inate hostility for the ‘us’-camp. And hostility breeds hostility.

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        I would say pre 2016 political jokes was at one level, where the onion could make jokes that was not just an echo of reality.

        Somewhere after that we crossed the political joke event horizon, and now we live in bizarro world, where many news items could have been the onion jokes.

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        Sure that’s true, but here it’s like way above 50% of the posts being just full-on propaganda, disguised as memes. IDK, I’m just comparing it to other sites/communities where the politics to meme ratio is way lower and feels less forced.

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          OK, fair enough.

          I think the fediverse in general attracts a lot of people who are tired of capitalist assholes extracting wealth on various tech platforms, which probably explains some of it. People are very angry right now, and that’s gonna be hard to escape on Lemmy/kbin

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        Back in the 2000s, most memes were just cat pictures. Longcat [is long], ceiling cat [is watching you], keyboard cat, grumpy cat etc.

        Also #BrusselsLockdown hashtag was used in 2015 to ease political tension.

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        Haha yes! The threehundreth variation of the same joke, feels like the first time I heard it

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          I will always find charlie kirk with a small face hilarious and I refuse to apologize.

          • SaakoPaahtaa@lemmy.world
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            We all have our guilty pleasures, I enjoy Stalin with a comically large spoon -memes but wouldn’t bother others with them.

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                Though that never happened, it’s good that it happened. Warm regards from my moms basement.

                I also like pointing out how homosexuals and trans folk have always been the first ones to get camped under communism.

                And that equality is a liberal ideology.

                And that social democracy fixes everything commies claim communism does, except that social democracy works.

                Gets em everytime.

                • OurToothbrush@lemmy.ml
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                  I also like pointing out how homosexuals and trans folk have always been the first ones to get camped under communism.

                  East Germany, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, filipino maoist insurgent marriages, oh and also all current socialist countries are making massive progress on lgbt issues while the minority of capitalist countries where communist led lgbt movements have succeeded in scoring some victories are backsliding.

                • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                  LOL like I had social credit! I’m an anarchist, typically among the first or second wave of political dissidents executed whenever a communist regime that would impliment such a social credit system takes power. Simply put: by the time that matters I’m already dead and hopefully took a few out omw.

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    Now this is a post I can get behind.

    Take a hike, hug a tree, run your fingers through blades of grass, stare at nature and take it in.

    Maybe even get a cheeky grill in while you’re at it grillman

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        Alright so what you need is 3 large portobello mushrooms, ¼ cup canola oil (or oil of your choice), ¼ cup balsamic vinegar, 3 tablespoons chopped onion, and 4 minced cloves garlic.

        First Clean the mushrooms; remove stems, reserving them for another use. Place mushroom caps gill-side up in a shallow dish.

        Then Combine oil, balsamic vinegar, onion, and garlic in a small bowl. Pour mixture evenly over mushroom caps; let marinate at room temperature for 1 hour.

        Go and Preheat the grill to medium-high heat; grease the grate.

        Lastly, Grill those suckers over the hot grill until caramelized and tender, about 5 minutes per side; serve warm.

  • CarbonScored [any]@hexbear.net
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    If I wasn’t a slave constantly in fear of malnourishment, illness, homelessness, police violence, jail and/or pain, I might not care so much.

  • GivingEuropeASpook [they/them, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    Lies! I went outside and I saw a poster about CLIMATE CHANGE, and then I turned the corner and heard a family complaining about minimum wage being too low! So unfair, I just want to be ignorant of other people’s suffering.

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    Also every person who bitches about safe spaces: “ban dresses on men because it makes me feel funny”

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    You know how if a pipeline is blocked, the pressure will continue to build up, backing up with oil, seeping it into everything nearby because it can’t go forward, until eventually a rupture occurs? That’s why “everything is political these days.”

  • UlyssesT [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    Their politics aren’t politics. Their politics are just the default, common sense, or invisible because they only get mad if they notice the politics.

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    My main problem is that most of the memes aren’t even funny.

    Make memes that are funny and then we can talk

    • TokyoMonsterTrucker@lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
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      They also have a real affinity for the time-tested “BOTH SIDES ARE BAD” argument, the absolute most sure-fire tell of a right-winger.

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        They also have a real affinity for the time-tested “BOTH SIDES ARE BAD” argument, the absolute most sure-fire tell of a right-winger.

        South Park “centrist” ideology. Not even once.

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          Lmao yes, arbitrary generational divides are exactly the same as political divides over who should be allowed to live and thrive in a society. It’s easy to say “let’s all chill and live as a community” if you’re not among the people that the right wants to remove from existence. And even if you’re not, how could you bring yourself to hang out with hateful fucks who would put you on a kill list without a second thought if you were a little darker or a little more neurodivergent?

          Trust, nobody wants to just chill and live as a community more than leftists. That’s our whole deal. But as long as capitalism and it’s immune response called fascism exist, everyone outside it (and those of us inside it too) must fight for their survival or be subsumed.

          • hackris@lemmy.ml
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            What you’re talking about are extremists. Nobody in their right mind would live in a community with them. What I was trying to say is, that labeling people “leftist”, “right-wing” and any of the other names does more harm than good.

            • ShimmeringKoi [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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              What you’re talking about are extremists.

              There are currently around a hundred thoudand people in concentration camps at the souther border. As of 2018, the DHS reported that they had “lost” 1,488 children. The FBI itself, years ago, published concerns about nazi inflliltration of police and federal organizations. US police forces contain an entire ecosystem of cop gangs, many of which are nazi. These same police forces operate blacksites and execute civil rights organizers. We are currently sending another several billion dollars of weaponry to arm guys with sonnenrad and swastika tattoos. What the fuck have you been smoking if you think the mainstream isn’t extremist.

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              how can you identify extremists if you’re not supposed to talk about people’s politics? how can you even tell what constitutes extremism? this is such a “let’s get back to brunch” take.

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          Edit: this comment was meant to say that labeling people does more harm than good. Great to know there are ignorant people here

          Like the person who made the above comment

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          Yes! Let’s put stickers on people

          Yes, because more often than not, the sticker fits, like right now for smug bootlicking centrists like yourself.

          Here, have this sticker. bootlicker

          Great to know there are ignorant people here :)

          The smiley doesn’t hide your reactionary rage.

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          Let’s live like a community.

          Unless you’re gay or trans or non-religious. While you’re doing community activities with me, I’m going to spend every other waking moment trying to get your human rights taken away.

          But when I have time, we’ll schedule some of those community things.

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          Careful. Hexbear caught your scent.
          Now you’ll get a whole bunch of them replying to you nonstop for a couple of days.

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      The people who politicize everything cry about too much politics. They even politicized fucking pronouns.

      They are addicted to politics, they just can’t handle seeing different opinions.

      • LinkOpensChest.wav@lemmy.one
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        Exactly! “Why are you making everything about politics?”

        I’m a gay person in a red state with first-gen immigrants and trans people in my family. I don’t have the luxury not to “make everything political.” The fact that I exist is political to these people!

    • Katana314@lemmy.world
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      I do use woke unironically, but in a prideful way. Eg, Brooklyn 99; “He means he was arrested for being black! Get woke, Scully!!”

      • LinkOpensChest.wav@lemmy.one
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        Fair enough! I always thought that “woke” should be a good thing.

        Same with SJW – it’s actually a positive thing to fight for social justice! Like, thanks for the compliment, I guess…