I can’t say I’ve been using Lemmy for long, but from the get-go it seems that the communities, memes, opinions that get upvoted seem to reflect left-wing ideas.
I’m certainly not complaining, it honestly feels like a breathe of fresh air compared to other social media sites that seem to shift further and further to the far right, though I am curious to hear why this might be the case? Does FOSS tend to attract more left-wing minded people, or does this just happen to be a broadly left-wing microcosm/bubble?
Hope you all have a great day.
I mean you signed up on lemmy.marxism-leninism. Yeah they tend to lean left, lol.
But yeah your observation indeed is is correct. Not only does lemmy lean left it often leans pretty far left too. It might feel like a breathe of fresh air but it’s still a bubble and echo chamber. It’s the same as truth social but the exact opposite. Nothing wrong with that per-se but it’s a good thing to keep in mind. Factual information is regularly downvoted here not because it’s false but because it doesn’t fit the narrative.
I don’t come here for the far left. I come here for the lack of the far right. The far left are some crazy nutters, too, but I think for the most part they are well meaning and that’s a damn sight better than the far right who just wear hatred on their fucking sleeves.
It means I get some shit for not wanting to live in a big city or being happy driving a car, but I take solace in the fact that I’ll be long dead before far left ideals take hold in any significant way. Meanwhile… fascism is a far more immediate threat, and that’s the one group of fuckers I give myself leave to unabashedly hate.
There’s no scarcity of hate on Lemmy either. It simply flies under the radar for most part because it’s directed at things we hate too. Exactly as is the case on far-right forums as well. Just read the comments of any thread about Elon, Police, Ai, Facebook, Twitter, Capitalism, Israel and so on. You even admit participating in it yourself.
The far-right thinks of themselves as well meaning just as well. Nobody thinks of themselves as the bad guys. Claiming they intend to be hateful and evil is disingenuine. That’s only how you view them. Their view of us is hardly any different. Both views are wrong.
If you think hating on fascists is just more of the same (and to be clear, there is a lot of ambiguity in what you said) then I’m going to have to disagree. There is no nobility in loving your enemy until they exterminate you.
As for the rest, you come at me a bit argumentative, but I don’t really disagree. But does it make it an echo chamber if I don’t fight everyone I disagree with? I’ve been arguing on the internet since before the WWW existed and nothing has changed, least of all anyone’s minds. I get upvotes when I manage a particularly eloquent turn of phrase that captures the zeitgeist, but as gratifying as that is I enjoy the back and fourth a lot more. I’d rather have someone thoughtfully and respectfully disagree with me.
No, I don’t think hating on fascists is the same but that assumes we’re speaking of actual fascists instead of more or less normal people who happen to lean right and get called fascists because it’s an easy label to throw at someone because we don’t like them and they’re making noises that remotely sound like something a fascist would make. It’s equivalent to the right calling someone a communist for advocating for things like UBI or higher taxes for the wealthy.
People like Elon Musk gets called a nazi here daily. I don’t care how much one hates him, that’s just a blatantly false accusation but it gets the upvotes because what they’re essentially saying is “boo Elon” and that’s something most Lemmings agree with. This just dillutes the meaning of these labels to the point that people then are sceptical even when they’re used appropriately.
It’s not about loving your enemy. Atleast not in my case. I’m only trying to remind people that groups consist of individuals and no two of them are the same. I don’t like how both sides so dishonestly represent eachother’s views on social media and use these extreme labels so lightly. I think in most things in life the truth is somwehere in the middle so wether it be left or right, the further one goes in that direction the more likely they’re to be at the wrong side of history. I’ll much rather trust the judgement of someone who whose beliefs are such a mixed bag that they’re near impossible to place on the political spectrum.
I’m also just rambling here now. I don’t even remember what we were talking about anymore.
I was trying to make clear I was talking about the far right. The folks who think the Proud Boys include some good people.
I’m not really sure about your Musk talking point though. For someone who definitely isn’t a Nazi, he sure does a lot for them. But, to argue with myself, he’s likely too drugged out and too much of a narcissist to have an ethos. Fucking nihilists.
I’d be fine with hating fascists if the word referred to actual fascists and not everyone who even slightly disagrees with you.
Also, I don’t think physical violence against people based on their political views is justified, no matter how horrendous the views are.
I don’t believe in solving problems with aggression, but I’ve never held it against anyone who punched a Nazi. I don’t approve, but I don’t lose sleep if others choose differently.
I suppose to be fair, I would feel the same about any violent authoritarian political view, not exclusively fascism.
Even if the left is overall more tolerant, there’s still plenty of toxicity that alienates people and pushes them rightward.
I think the idea that MLs are a far left ideology is pretty questionable honestly. But that is the conventional wisdom certainly.
The definition most people use for left and right isn’t really consistent or coherent. If you do try to iron out those inconsistencies, you’ll find that MLs don’t really fit with the rest of the left.