this post was submitted on 09 Jan 2025
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[–] [email protected] 64 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

Gestures at the current state of affairs

I don't think patience is working guys.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 weeks ago (11 children)

But stabbing your neighbor isn't exactly something most people are willing to do.

And any sort of attempt at organization leads to Alphabet Squad raids and whatever bullshit charges they feel like throwing at you after deciding you're guilty of being a dirty commie/socialist/librul/not them.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 weeks ago (11 children)

We really need to not stab our neighbors, anyway. CEOs, however.

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[–] [email protected] 59 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (16 children)

Unpopular opinion:

Alienating liberals doesn't create more leftists, it only causes people to be dismissive of the term and dig in their heels.
Insulting them rather than educating them does nothing but divide anyone left of center and after the last election I think it's abundantly clear that we need to be unified rather than divided.
No one is going to argue that left leaning candidates aren't far from perfect, but they're a hell of a lot better than the far-right fascists were about to have in power in less than 2 weeks.
Yes, I agree modern liberals are too centrist and ineffective but at the end of the day they're light-years ahead of the far right, and I'd rather be agitated about having another centrist administration than alarmed and outraged at the onset of fascism.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 3 weeks ago (11 children)

Liberals facilitate fascism

[–] Tlaloc_Temporal 24 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

That's why it's important to communicate with them rather than alienating them.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

You're talking as if for over a year (cough decades cough) Palestinian activists hadn't tried talking to the liberals about their party's unshakable support for the ongoing genocide.

What's left to say to people who are "going to pick the lesser of 2 evils" even when you showed them that their pick is still funding the ethnic cleansing of all Palestinian people?

We should talk to general leftist people. Not the liberals. They still value money and profit over people

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

i probably would have taken that liberal stance long ago, but i had people explain their views to me in a good way that eventually made me rethink some of the things i held as truth. its just that it doesnt happen overnight. im not saying anyone will be convinced but the socialist strategy of getting people talking about political topics in a consistent organized way actually helps a lot here.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I might sound like an asshole and I apologize in advance if I do because it's not about you specifically in this case but, while I'm glad that you had people in your life who were willing to consistently talk to you and help you rethink some things, the problem to me is exactly that like you said, it does not happen overnight. At all. It actually takes a long time and a lot of trust between people to achieve what was achieved with you in this particular case. And while I am certainly glad to have another ally, time is a luxury in some cases.

Using the case of Palestine, a Palestinian village getting bombed because so many liberals simply don't value their lives enough and don't pressure their officials to do something about it, doesn't have the luxury of time.

As another example, the collapse of our ecosystem is happening every single day. And while we let companies continue business as usual, those liberals think that it's a topic that can always be postponed. But it can't. And now we're past the point of no return and yet we waste time in pointless conversations trying to explain to people that what is happening, is happening.

If some people on the left are willing to and have the time to take liberals by the hand and explain to them things they could look up for themselves if only they weren't so dismissive and disinterested in the suffering of others, great. They surely have my thank. But I don't think as a general strategy makes sense to wait for such liberal people to suddenly decide that importent issues are finally important enough to them to be acted upon.

Those issues have always been important and worthwhile. Their previous lack of interest about such topics is their own failure.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 weeks ago

The liberals have to do their mea culpa, not the left. Right now it will soon be a matter of choosing a side : humanism or fascism. Until now the liberals always chose fascism and called the leftists dangerous extremists.

Choose a side liberals. You made the world what it is today. And you're now blaming the leftists and asking them to support your insanity. That's not how it works. Leftists know which side they are fighting for, and they will suffer the consequences. What about you liberals?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I don't think they really are "light years ahead of the right". Most of the difference as far as I can tell is in how they talk-- not what they do. Liberals fundamentally just believe in the status quo. MLK Jr saw it the same way when he described " the white moderate" as the greatest obstacle to change.

I'm definitely willing to engage liberals (and even conservatives) in honest conversation when I feel the context warrants the effort. Lemmy rarely seems to qualify.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

thats not an unpopular opinion though? maybe on the west? revolutions happen by convincing your fellow brothers, not by force or manipulation.

this is the hard part imo, we all have to go against the media machine.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (9 children)

last election I think it’s abundantly clear that we need to be unified rather than divided.

Who's "we"? Liberals are not on the left and are ideological enemies of the left: you can't be unified with people who fundamentally oppose you.

Also, which election? Oh right, you're one of the those American liberals who think foreigners are fictional characters. That explains why you think leftists would want to ally with the people committing genocide against these "fictional characters"

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[–] [email protected] 41 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

One time I was called right extremist and left extremist by the same person on the same day I guess that I am the entirety of politics now

[–] [email protected] 21 points 3 weeks ago

Certified grill master

[–] [email protected] 26 points 3 weeks ago (20 children)

Okedoke, well I just learned that I have no concrete grasp of political labels and need to do a LOT of research.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (7 children)

Extreme simplification:

Liberalism: supports capitalism. Current system + tweaks

Leftism: supports anticapitalism of some form, the two biggest umbrellas being Marxism/Communism and Anarchism

Marxism/Communism: supports collectivization, public ownership, and central planning (I have an introductory reading list if you want to learn more, or just read Principles of Communism)

Anarchism: supports full horizontalism and networks of communes

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago (12 children)

Thank you for the reading list! I'll take a gander :)

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

We're the People's Front of Judea, not the FUCKING Judean People's Front!

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

and if somebody wants to know where that character is from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moomins

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago

[email protected] if you are interested in the comic!

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 weeks ago

I'm not sure I'm politically knowledgeable to know what a liberal is

(This is a joke, and I don't need anyone to explain it to me. The thing I struggle with is discerning whether the people I'm talking to at any given point know what a liberal is)

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Sometimes it's not worth the fight.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I feel like most self described liberals would be leftists if they actually looked into it anyway

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago (7 children)

That's my experience, generally. The ones I can get to read a bit of theory tend to be more sympathetic towards Socialism.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago (10 children)

What is the difference? I'm not sure what I am any more.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 3 weeks ago (22 children)

Liberalism is the ideological aspect of Capitalism, Leftists support some form of Socialism.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I’m not sure what I am any more.

Political labels are pretty junk, especially after centuries of mass media and propaganda in the mix. I find it helps to learn to convey your values specifically if you want to avoid that whole mess.

  • The 'left-right spectrum' is subjective and relative which makes it pretty useless without having a ton of context. "Leftist", by itself, is mostly a meaningless term. To socialists, a progressive liberal is usually considered center or even right wing. Some socialists even call other socialists right-wing. It's just pointless.
  • What the US mass media calls 'liberals' is a progressive liberal in political science. What the US mass media calls a conservative is usually a conservative liberal aka right-liberal, that's why they constantly prize liberty and freedom. The US libertarian is simply a classical liberal. They're all liberals!

Useful video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nPVkpWMH9k - "Why the political compass is wrong", explaining how vague and ultimately ineffective the left-right auth-lib models of politics are.

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