i am curious to see what kinds of leftists are here on lemmy
Anarcho Syndicalist
One of my friends is an Anarcho-Syndicalist.
Now you have two Anarcho-Syndicalist friends. 😁
yeah, and this convo made me want to play kaiserreich france again.
I’ll be honest, don’t know how to answer that question but I’d like to be able to. I have a lot of the same beliefs as other people who say they’re leftist but sometimes the one or two conservative-ish viewpoints I have bring me into conflict with leftists. Not by my choice, just in my experience some people can’t deal if you aren’t 100% in lockstep with them.
What even are leftists without infighting?
True that, but there’s a difference between debate and disagreement, and unhealthy infighting. and fighting with tankies is not infighting, because they are a threat to the values of the left.
Sorry, I was mostly being sarcastic.
In all seriousness, a lot of people on the left think very critically about their beliefs and struggle with accepting others after becoming so thoroughly dedicated to their own. This is something we need to overcome for trivial things, for sure.
But, as you said, tankies are a threat. They call for unity to simply to gather forces to oppress others until they can turn and oppress the same leftists they called to for unity.
you are right on.
interesting, one thing we have in common is our conflict with other leftists, for me this happens due to my pragmatist perspective.
I honestly don’t know how to label myself, all I know is I’m “left of center” as far as the US goes. I might not even be a “true” leftist. I know I’m not a neoliberal though that’s for sure…
I know that in general human nature leads the worst actors to positions of real power so I’ve never believed that the far end of the spectrum could ever work, but I also know for the same reason the “middle road” so-called centrist position in the US is just conservativism “lite.” I won’t even touch on the “right/conservativism” as that isn’t the question and it’s basically monarchy & hierarchy worship.
I think people in general aren’t educated enough and are too apathetic to care about the “big picture” and mostly care about what happens in their own life in their own communities so decisions made in respect to what happens on a large scale for an entire country are left to manipulative actors swaying those that don’t care to truly understand any particular situation which makes any difficult process of transitioning to a more “leftist” government infinitely more dubious.
I like the idea of worker co-ops as far as labor and “market” is concerned. I don’t believe that states can properly attend to the luxury desires of any given population, I think the “greed incentive” of individuals works there. People want a thing and you want money so you make the thing, but I believe governance has a role in ensuring those lead by the greed incentive are kept in check. That leads back to the “worst actors” seeking positions of power and that power is required to keep the greedy in check so I really don’t know the ideal way to handle that. The worker co-ops should keep the CEO wrecking a company long term for their short term gain and golden parachute exit out of the equation at least.
As far as anything about equality goes, I think it’s stupid that it’s even a question. We are all humans living on a ball of rock shooting through the galaxy, we are in the same boat and deserve the same treatment/opportunities as anyone else. Those with a “leg up” monetarily have an “unfair” advantage, but the solution to leveling the playing field is far above my pay grade to know.
I haven’t gone into any “deep dives” of the “flavors” of leftism which is probably why I don’t know what I am considered, but I’m not sure it matters either as I know to a degree what I believe works or doesn’t, I don’t think I need a lable.
This is a very thoughtful comment, thank you. also i agree with much of what you said.
Thanks! I didn’t think I’d spend my lunch break considering leftism, but it was an interesting question lol
i hope this community continues to interesting for you.
edit, oops, I said “subreddit” instead of community, I guess its quite obvious that i am a reddit-exile.
I consider myself a progressive: our political systems should work to improve the human condition over the long term, informed by scientific and moral progress tempered by humility.
That reasonable.
I think it would be disingenuous to call myself a leftist. I have beliefs pulled from all over, mostly my own experience. I’d consider myself more a spiritual person than political. I have strong views on social issues like criminal justice, capitalism as a whole, and any type of hate. Any.
I think money and human interaction will never mesh.
I think humans are ultimately flawed to ever have a perfect system. I think atp we are ultimately fkd long term.
All I can do is be kind to people day to day and try to be mindful of my own actions and hopefully that rubs off on others.
I think, as a species, we have a lot of inward reflection to do, as far as how we treat ourselves and others. I’m almost convinced that suffering is just apart of the human experience and is what ultimately makes life what it is. Whether this is just learned behavior is yet to be seen, but we have been playing out this power struggle since the dawn of time, and it is not the way.
I can only try, in my own way, to alleviate that suffering.
It’s a slow crawl on the evolutionary ladder, and I’m not quite sure we’re capable of making it. And if we do, it will be with a far less populated planet.
That’s where I am at, in a nutshell. As far as specific topics, I’d have to take them one at a time as they come, and follow my gut.
Out of curiosity, why do you feel it would be disingenuous to call yourself a leftist?
Well I guess I have been proven wrong in that assumption. Lol. Apparently I’m a libertarian socialist, and apparently I really dig Karl Marx. Lol.
I was sort of more stating that I am more of a spiritual being. But thru that I am indeed, very much left. Haha
thats quite the evolution there.
I don’t know. Genre was never too important to me, I am just me, I feel what I feel, and sometimes do not have the appropriate words to describe, until I do. (:
alright.
Even if you are not a leftist, you are welcome to discuss and debate leftism freely.
I think for all intents and purposes, I am. I believe we need to look out for one another. I believe in the commonality of the human experience and that we can all get what we want if we work together, leave ego behind, and think of others as an extension of ourselves. And we need to help eachother achieve that perspective.
you seem at least centre left, and respectable to say the least.
Well thank you. Same to you. (I’m definitely not right, that is for sure)…I suppose I’m some flavor of anarchist with a ground in leftism for the sake of modern politics…or smth lol.
I respect anarchists, and agree with them on many things.
Yea for sure. It seems a mix of left, anarchism, and autonomy would be the perfect solution, buy sadly that is just never gonna happen…right now at least. I’d like to think that we are just slowly advancing towards it by having these discussions. I was always more a big picture person. I’ve only recently “activated” in my old, long held, political ideals after a run in with the American criminal justice system, poverty, and addiction and I’m konda figuring out where my ideals truly fit by interacting with my peers. I find that most people on here are at least somewhat intellectual in nature, and I like that.
that sounds like libertarian socialism to me.
Libertarian Socialist and generally anti-fascist.
you will probably have alot in common with me.
I just want want universal healthcare, or council communism. Whichever comes first.
I tend to fall on the anarchist side of things… though not fully - I think anarchists do have their own problems with orthodox “leftist” ways of thinking.
My belief system is very unorthodox, it would displease most ideological purists.
Wertkritik https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wertkritik
Interesting, what is it about?
its a crisis theory, developed by german left wingers in the 90ties, as a result of the colapse of the Soviet Union. Here, some translations into english: https://exitinenglish.com/
interesting
post-anarcho-communist
aka doomer
Posties just seem aimless, and without sound theory.
My theory is sound. I just ran out of hope that we can do anything but brace for impact. This has affected how I go about acting and organizing, hence the self-applied “post” label. But I know what you mean.
So just doomerism?
I am an eclectic leftist personally, i have influences from many left wing ideologies.
Though sometimes i call myself a centre marxist, or a demsoc.
Marxist-Leninist
oh, ok… im sorry about that.
Read a book.
i have proudly read many.
Kinda Juche without the great man stuff, agri-socialism I guess?
nobody can seriously be a jucheist in this day and age…
An entire country disagrees with you
we have no real idea of what the north korean populace believes, due to the levels of isolation, but worship of their monarch is very likely a significant part of it.
You should join the Korean Friendship Association https://korea-dpr.com/
you cant be fucking kidding me…
Sounds like you believe capitalist propaganda friend. And judging from the downvotes I am receiving, this community is probaby too center for me. I wish you all the best in your journey.
Juche is not leftists, its monarchist.
Booooo.
based sir
