this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2023
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i can't stand megathreads -- no one reads these! no one wants their posts banished there!

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[–] galloog1 -2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

There is a decent argument historically that communism and other left movements are extremist, racist, and anti-lgbtq. When you start banning concepts, you open your communities up to several things.

  1. Group think
  2. Banning of other radical ideologies that you may agree with
  3. You alienate those people from exposure to better concepts
  4. You jump start compaction cycles for large scale propaganda organizations that could lead to actual violence
[–] Ensign_Crab 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I said "bigots" and you immediately jumped to "whatabout communists?!"

[–] galloog1 -1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I provided four reasons why this was relevant and you jumped from communism to whataboutism? Talk about being intellectually lazy (Or a state-sponsored account)

[–] Ensign_Crab 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I provided four reasons why this was relevant

After starting right out the gate with:

There is a decent argument historically that communism and other left movements are extremist, racist, and anti-lgbtq.

We're talking about today. On a relatively new community. Frankly, I see no reason to tolerate the bigots you're so keen on coddling until they take over and make this another version of reddit's the_donald, complete with organizing nazi rallies. Particularly not with the vague and spurious "there is a decent argument" hand wavy FUD that you didn't explain as a justification. Are a lot of people saying it?

Moving onto your 4 points, let's look at how they worked so well over at reddit, with all the virtuous acceptance of intolerance and nazi-coddling they've done, shall we?

Group think

No, reddit has never had groupthink. Not for an instant. Thank god they let the bigots in otherwise they'd have groupthink!

Banning of other radical ideologies that you may agree with

Post anything on conservative even slightly counter to their bigoted orthodoxy and see how that goes. Hell, suggest that fascism is not amenable to reason and must be opposed with force anywhere on reddit and see how that goes.

You alienate those people from exposure to better concepts

They had abundant exposure to better concepts on reddit. Look how well that's worked so far. Clearly the answer is to let them spread their shit all over lemmy.

You jump start compaction cycles for large scale propaganda organizations that could lead to actual violence

the_donald literally promoted and helped organize a nazi rally where Heather Heyer was run over and killed by a nazi's car. On lovely ol' bigot-coddling reddit. The sub was not banned for years afterwards. I do not want that for lemmy. I left reddit the instant an alternative that didn't welcome bigotry got enough users.

Not everywhere has to entertain bigots. There's already too many places that do. A community that welcomes bigots is unwelcoming to everyone but bigots. But holy shit, does it ever drive engagement.

Or a state-sponsored account

Oh, we're throwing around wild accusations now?

[–] galloog1 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes, I started with the reasons why left-leaning movements have been restricted historically right out of the gate. It is not coddling bigots. It is providing context on why any form of radical idea is restricted, including ideas that we tend to celebrate in these communities. Communist propaganda has historically put fourth that anything that is not communist is inherently fascist. Is that your definition of fascism? Are folks allowed to talk about the French protests? To many they are based in fascism.

In my opinion, you are literally promoting groupthink and closing yourself off to ideas by attempting to ban content that you disagree with based on your own definitions. Life is a little more nuanced when you are not talking about specific issues by which you know the full context.

Also, is it a relatively new community or is it an established one that you want to preserve the culture of? I am getting very mixed messages from you.

[–] Ensign_Crab 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes, I started with the reasons why left-leaning movements have been restricted historically right out of the gate.

No, you started with an unsupported allegation about all left-leaning movements:

There is a decent argument historically that communism and other left movements are extremist, racist, and anti-lgbtq.

Support it or don't accuse me of being intellectually lazy.

Communist propaganda has historically put fourth that anything that is not communist is inherently fascist.

Why am I getting "Anyone who disagrees with you is a fascist! Everyone's a fascist to you leftists!" vibes from this?

Also, is it a relatively new community

In the context of broader world history, which is what you were talking about when you were baselessly calling anyone on the left anti-lgbtq.

or is it an established one that you want to preserve the culture of?

It's a new community that I don't want overrun with nazis like you'd prefer.

[–] galloog1 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Asking for proof of this is like asking for proof that the Constitution exists. It's a very common thing I referenced. Western anarchism has a more positive history but largely linked to furtherment of the cause over actual progression of liberties.

Cuba: https://www.thedailybeast.com/fidel-castros-horrific-record-on-gay-rights

USSR: https://www.thecollector.com/harry-whyte-gay-communist-writes-to-stalin-soviet-union/

CCP: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0268580918812265

My point in bringing it up is that it's extremely easy to craft a narrative that starts including relatively positive forms of speech in with the banning. That includes these little forums and your approach is exactly what happened on Reddit eventually leading to the current influx of members here now. The second you start restricting speech is when the forum starts consolidating power.

Donald Trump was elected president primarily because he could control his messaging and direct different narratives to different demographics. He was unable to do that as president so he lost the next election. By encouraging the siloing of information sources, you enable that behavior.

I don't want Nazis but the best way to turn them is not by sending them into a forum where they are left unchecked.

[–] Ensign_Crab 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Asking for proof of this is like asking for proof that the Constitution exists. It’s a very common thing I referenced. Western anarchism has a more positive history but largely linked to furtherment of the cause over actual progression of liberties.

So you're using historical examples of dictatorial communist regimes to tar the entire modern left as permanently and irredeemably bigoted. Got what you meant from the very beginning in its entirety in perfect crystal clarity. Meanwhile, the bigots are talking about eradicating trans people right now.

My point in bringing it up is that it’s extremely easy to craft a narrative that starts including relatively positive forms of speech in with the banning.

Your point is that because some communist dictatorships were bigoted, we should tolerate bigotry from fascists right now in new communities. No. For starters, bigots are still perfectly welcome on reddit and twitter and facebook and 4chan and stormfront and so on. Not everywhere has to be welcoming to bigots. Not everywhere has to be a high minded polyannish naive community where no one locks their doors and if we just engage with bigots on their terms everything will be hunky dory and they'll stop wanting to genocide my friends. Not everywhere needs to be a complicit platform for hate.

your approach is exactly what happened on Reddit eventually leading to the current influx of members here now

reddit welcomed bigots since day one. Lemmy needn't.

I don’t want Nazis but the best way to turn them is not by sending them into a forum where they are left unchecked.

Do they not already have enough recruiting grounds already for your liking? Why let them have this one too? Why should people on lemmy have to deal with all the hate against minorities? Why must bigots be welcome just to make others unwelcome?

[–] galloog1 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

My point here is not that I am. My point is that others would. The fact that you still do not understand that after reiterating it repeatedly in every single reply indicates to me that you are either not reading my replies or not in this discussion in good faith. You are what this community should leave behind. There was way too much of this on Reddit.

[–] Ensign_Crab 2 points 1 year ago

Well, we'll see what happens. I hope lemmy continues to be inhospitable to bigots.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You linked "communism" and "left movements" to "banning concepts" as if they go hand in hand.

You're question begging hard, and all of your "reasons" are built on top of propaganda and logical fallacies.

[–] galloog1 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Left-leaning radical ideologies are banned all the time and usually use the same laws set up to ban far-right movements. I am not begging the question but feel free to continue spouting off the names of logical fallacies. I almost have a bingo.

I deal with propaganda and strategic messaging professionally, so by all means attempt to lecture.

[–] systemglitch 1 points 1 year ago

And you got downvoted for that truthful reality.