So I just discovered lemmygrad.ml because I saw a comment that described it as “an extremist instance”. I popped over there, and while there are def some interesting takes, it seems like a well moderated instance with extremely strict rules centered around leftism, and provides very focused content.
There does also seem to be a lot of pro-china content, which in and of itself is not a bad thing. China is an important country (they all are) that contributes a lot to the world through tech, agriculture, and industry. At the same time though, like every other major superpower, it commits atrocities at home and abroad.
My question to those familiar with/to the instance: what would lemmygrad.ml’s position on the tiananmen square massacre be? I’m too afraid to ask myself; I don’t want to get yelled at by any militant leftists right now hehe.
I feel this is a pretty good litmus test for how “extreme” an instance is, as denying/skewing historical events seems to be a pretty good extremism determinator.
Thoughts?
Peace & Love My Lemmings
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I interrupted a Stalin circle jerk there by mentioning the holodomer, and the response I got to that prompted me to filter lemmygrad from my Lemmy experience entirely.
So, I mean, your mileage may vary, but I’d say there is a pretty easy way to answer your question and the fact that you’re asking outside of that instance is pretty telling to me that you already think you know the answer.
*Holodomor
Yeah, I’d stay away from lemmygrad, they are clearly on a wrong side of history.
I wish there were more moderate leftist communities out there, the ones that are focused on highlighting downfalls of capitalism without trying to convince everybody that USSR 2.0 is the only good alternative.
yea i wish there was an active sub (woops community) to discuss progressive economic and social policy. which is why i was curious about the lemmy lefto-sphere haha.
Imagine trying to converse about politics and society without immediately pushing for a far left/right revolution of sorts? 🤣
yea my bullshit meter was tingling for sure which is why I made this post in the first place. Didnt want an experience like you had where id be attacked for asking leftist opinion on actual historical events. so ya…will avoid thanks much!
Almost every time I see anyone posting from an account on that instance, they’re denying historical and on-going genocide. So I don’t really want to hang out there or with those people.
In general their stance on atrocities is that they are all Western misinformation (it didn’t happen, and even if it did they deserved it).
How would you feel if you met a Holocaust denier? Or a Japanese nationalist who believes that their country was the victim in WW2? Or you somehow meet an English who expresses that same sentiment towards India? Now extend that same feeling of disgust to these people.
Any view on history/society that involves the word “deserved” is probably not for me lol. Thanks for the response.
As you guessed my bullshit meter was tingling which made me make this post in the first place. Only did a surface level browsing but it seems to be the largest lefty instance on lemmy so far and it has the most active latestagecapitalism community, which is pretty harmless, so it gave me some pause.
Interesting that lemmy would allow such instances to exist while mastodon prohibits them. Still learning the fediverse so I appreciate it.
I searched there and found this pretty quick.
Tiny excerpt:
As corroborated by leaked CIA cables provided by Wikileaks, there was no fighting in Tiananmen Square. No students were executed, and no tanks drove over people.
Could be an interesting read.
🐐 has c/MeanwhileOnGrad
“Documenting hate-speech, conspiracy theorists, apologia/revisionism, and general tankie behaviour across lemmygrad and other instances.”
Hi there! Looks like you linked to a Lemmy community using a URL instead of its name, which doesn’t work well for people on different instances. Try fixing it like this: [email protected]
I should mention i dont know whether they would lean one way or another. Honestly just interested to know if it’s worth my time participating in the instance. Rather not get caught with my pants down.
I’d recommend just asking there. Trust me, we’re not mean unless you’re acting in bad faith (and it seems like you are not).
Lemmygrad.ml is not “extreme” in any way. We are Marxist-Leninists. At its most basic level, we believe that the Soviet Union and modern China were and are on the right side of history; not perfect, but fundamentally good. You may not agree with them, but neither of these are radical ideas.
what would lemmygrad.ml’s position on the tiananmen square massacre be?
That the death count was low (a few hundred), roughly half of which were on the government side (military and police). It was not a massacre of defenseless students, but a clash between armed radicals and the police. And none of the conflict actually took place in the square; the government dispersed the protest there without bloodshed. It took place in the city at large (which is why, in China, it is called the “June 4th incident”).
This is not Chinese propaganda or a conspiracy theory. Western journalists covering the protests back this interpretation of events. The Western narrative was manufactured later. If you ask on Lemmygrad’s 101 community, someone less lazy than me will give you the sources.
Would just like to point out all responses here are from people who clearly despise and dislike lemmygrad. So the answers won’t be honest and unbiased.
You really should ask them. But be ready for any response and don’t be too lib brained when arguing, that will trigger them for sure.
Edit: maybe to clarify, I’m not a ML or “tankie”, so I disagree on a lot with the more extreme people on Lemmygrad. But the perspective they offer (an extremely critical and antagonistic anti-US and anti-imperialist view, based - somewhat - on Marxism) is refreshing online where the discourse is dominated by Americans who are for their most part brainwashed from birth to be neoliberals and just regurgitate Empire propaganda.
I say that as someone from an exploited country that is part of the Empire. I’m lucky my country had pretty critical and leftist teachers for the most part, but we still suffered from propaganda so most people are as neoliberal (or fascist same shit) as most Americans… just less than the US I guess.
But all in all, if you’re American, maybe start thinking more critically about what you “know to be true”. 90% of that is pure Empire propaganda.
As MLs are in some ways Marxists I guess, they at least try to base their delusions on actual evidence and facts. Unlike the typical neoliberal that constructs their delusions from propaganda and dreams.
imma shoot you an upvote for diversity of opinion, even though you wrongly assume i’ve had the wool pulled over my eyes by western imperialists.
it’s clear the instance has views that don’t align with my own but i did mention it seemed well moderated and at least thoughtful. but i don’t fuck with any community that can be triggered by discussion lmfao. if you have any community recs for progressive policy, im all ears baby.
also prob not a good look to assume all americans or westerners are lib brained or brainwashed imperialists. there isn’t a single truly socialist country on this planet; even china partakes in mostly liberal economic policy while governing behind the guise of it’s communist party.
but guess what: everyone loves money the same across all parts of the globe, and all willingly partake in capitalism no matter what they spout, so they can keep lining their pockets.
got a lot of holier-than-thou motherfuckers on this site, ay?
Well you’ll see most users on beehaw or lemmy.world get pretty triggered if you even suggest considering the Holodomor wasn’t a genocide. In fact, most “regular” people in the imperial core would get pretty triggered. Or for saying Che Guevara was a very cool person. Or for saying Mao wasn’t as evil as Hitler.
So you see, most places on the internet, it being an American creation, are very hostile to leftist perspectives that challenge the mainstream narratives.
Just questioning this narrative makes people seethe.
That’s brainwashing my friend. That is the effects of 3 generations of heavy heavy propaganda and ideological warfare.
And saying MOST people in the imperial core are not lib brained or brainwashed with propaganda is pretty hilarious.
I’m from the imperial periphery, even there most people are also brainwashed and lib brained. I mean the US won the ideological war! It’s the end of history. Ofc most people not in the few areas not dominated by empire will be brainwashed and lib brained.
And I’m not better than anyone. Propaganda is strong. I don’t know what led me to believe what I believe and question the mainstream narratives the way I did. I don’t think I’m special, only specific things happened to me, which had the effects they had because of insurmountable circumstances in my life. Like that’s how all people are right?
I only can hope more people will also develop more class consciousness, more critical thinking skills, and stop regurgitating propaganda. From all sides.
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