this post was submitted on 28 Jun 2023
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Asklemmy

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I'm just curious for the new or existing people? Lemmy.ml has taken a hard turn to the right since the reddit exodus. There's been a lot of pro-imperialist propaganda being posted on world news, and a lot less diversity of opinion. It feels more neoliberal and neo-con to me.

Does anyone want to share what their political leanings are?

I'll start; I'm anti-imperialist pro-state regulated capitalism. I believe we should have usage based taxes (toll roads, carbon tax) and luxury taxes, and I disagree with wealth taxes for people with less than $250 million. The state should spend more money on consumer protection in all industries (environment, health, finance, etc.) I believe in multipolarity vs. US hegemony.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Since idolizing Richard Stallman in high school but disagreeing with some Greens, I've been an ACLU member Libertarian who votes progressive Democrat so the poor don't starve.

[โ€“] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Edit: Removing this because I feel I over shared a bit.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Left wing market anarchist is the closest summary of my general views.

Left wing economically and socially. I believe strongly in workers rights, collective control over production and labor practices. All people have dignity and should be treated with a base level of care and concern, even if they have done horrific things. I am very supportive of LGBT+ folks and any marginalized or underprivileged groups.

Market because I am not against markets or money. I think they are tools that can greatly aid society if used correctly. I am strongly anti-capitalist, which is a economic and social philosophy that uses money and markets in ways that are inherently oppressive and exploitive.

Anarchist because I am anti-state. Monopolization of power and resources, especially in a capitalist society, only ever result in oppression, even if supposedly "of/for the people."

[โ€“] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I don't put myself into a political ideology. And I'm not confident enough in the labeling to make a reasonable guess I'd feel comfortable with.

[โ€“] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (7 children)

What happened on lemmy.ml? That place is moderated by tankies with their finger on the ban trigger, so I am skeptical if you mean "hard turn to the right" or "normal people calling out the propaganda that my echo chamber used to shield me from."

To answer the question, I'm a radical anarchist, no state, no money, no bosses, no landlords, no compromises.

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

As a Marxist-Leninist I am curious what your approach would be to military intervention as the US has done time and time again with leftist movements in the third-world. I think there are many valid critiques of the state but I see it as a necessary evil to protect a leftist movement.

I am open to opinions and genuinely curious to hear your perspective.

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

For matters of defense against imperialism, the state is an orthogonal question. The state is just a monopoly on violence. A community can be just as prepared to defend themselves as a state (arguably more so, since every person can be their own guerilla, instead of a blessed few.)

Speaking of which, there have been many Marxist revolutionaries that came into power with only guerilla/irregular/asymmetric warfare, which stands in contrast to the vanguard party approach. One requires a state and the other doesn't.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I'm in reality probably center left. I find that I tend to have nuanced views about a variety of things but I probably wouldn't hard commit to a particular political stripe. I tend to vote Democrat but I often disagree with them on certain things as well. Sometimes I think they are not doing enough on social and environmental issues and sometimes I think they have gone too far on other issues. There are some republican theories I don't mind but I don't generally see this current party actually focused on anything I agree with.

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

ML. Authleft enough that Libs will call me a Tankie.

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Mainly socialist with a healthy dose of libertarianism.

I personally will do what I can to help those less fortunate. I tithe to a collection of charities for example. However, I just saw an advert from government telling me to wear a seat belt and just thought "I know! leave me the hell alone".

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Liberal: Especially socially I'm very liberal. Everyone should have the same rights, opportunities and be treated equally no matter their race, sexual orientation, gender, religion etc. It should matter how you life your life as long as it doesn't negatively effect others. The government should only provide laws that limit this to protect those who cannot do that themselves (like kids growing up). Economically as well, like the free market, but regulation is important imo. Only if regulation wouldn't work or something is so vitally important to everyone or the economy that you can't do without it, is nationalisation an option for me. Keep the government as small as possible, but don't overdo it for the sake of making it smaller.

Progressive: this is mostly true for climate and social aspects. I welcome almost any regulation to make sure global heating slows down as much and fast as possible. Socially because society changes all the time and just because we treated people a certain way 50 years ago doesn't mean we should forever do that. On government spending and on defense I'm more conservative. Peace requires a strong military and the government should make sure its debt doesn't go out of control. Doesn't waste money on stuff the market can handle or on benefits that people don't really need. It annoyed me when I got hundreds of euros last year in compensation from the government for higher electricity and natural gas prices. I, and many others, didn't need it and it was better spend on more useful things.

Center wing: Help those who really need it, like the homeless, immigrants, people with bad illnesses or PTSD, but if someone makes (a lot) more than me then that's fine with me. I'm not expecting anyone who makes more than me to solve all the worlds issues while I can keep doing and buying what I do now. I'm in favor of many tougher regulations that will hit me financially, but will he better for the future.

At the same time I do expect everyone to pay their fair share in taxes and see taxes as a good thing.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I'm a good old fashioned NAP following libertarian/anarchist.

I don't really care about the left or right paradigm - what I care about is how badly you and your cronies are going to buttfuck us.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I'm some kind of lefty social anarcho-pacifist.

$capitalism != $freedom.

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

somewhere between soc dem and communist

i have a list of issues i care about, whether those issues are fixed by properly regulated capitalism or communist utopia isnt that important to me

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

A social democrat or democratic socialist or whatever, though I did vote for the left-party last time

[โ€“] Zarxrax 3 points 1 year ago

Yeah, some good points there. I totally agree about the problems with meaningful political discourse. I honestly believe most people don't want to have a discussion on things, they just want to post their take and then feel validated by people up voting them. Add in bots and trolls, and political discussion just generally doesn't work on platforms like this (or most of the internet at large).

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I'd say I'm economic center left and socially extremely liberal.

I Iike maximum personal freedom. For example: I'm fine with legalizing , taxing and regulating all drugs including things like heroin: with proper labels and forbidden to sell to children. For the record I personally would never put drugs into my own body, but people should have the freedom to choose if they wish to do so.

I want a well regulated capitalism with strong employees and consumer protections. I am somewhat undecided when it comes to things like worker coops and other forms of workplace democracy, but I think I'd lean towards a somewhat mixt system. Something akin to 50% of board members in a private company elected by employees and 50% by shareholders: that way there are still some incentives to invest, but also some checks and balances by people who actually work in the company and who thus wouldn't want to vote against their own interests.

And finally strong social safety nets with public housing for all low income people. Can be even some Soviet style brutalist architecture apartments, as long as it can house everyone and is reasonably well maintained.

[โ€“] Juliie 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Whatever your views they are fine unless they involve denialism of genocides or massacres like Tiananmen Square

I lean towards anarchism

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I used to be an active socialist, but it felt quite hopeless when protests are ignored and democracy scarcely exists (you just vote for the least bad option once every 5 years). Now I moved countries and can't even vote so am much more apolitical. I also didn't like the shift of those groups into identity politics, and often focussing on treating symptoms rather than the cause - e.g. the push in many places to decriminalise theft under ~$300 instead of actually ensuring people have jobs and opportunities, or unfair rent control rather than building more housing and dealing with the distribution of employment.

But in general I just want a functional, meritocratic society with easy opportunities for education, wide use of technology and as little bureaucracy as possible. No monarchy or religion, etc.

I also think there should be much stricter punishments for violent crime, and better use of technology to investigate it. Ideally everywhere would be like Singapore with almost no crime due to excellent enforcement, and also good provision of education, housing, etc. to make it less attractive overall.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Anarcho-mutualist. But I'll work with anyone who wants less government.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Libertarian Socialist, though I might be a bit further left than that considering some of the ideas I have. I just find myself agreeing with Kyle Kulinski a lot since he seems to be the most agreeable and honest political commentator I know, and I've found other good channels through word of mouth from him.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

About the same as you, but I'd place the wealth tax limit far lower, like 10M. Plus strong anti-trust/monopoly/competitive laws.

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