this post was submitted on 14 Oct 2025
182 points (87.3% liked)
Pragmatic Leftist Theory
418 readers
1 users here now
The neolibs are too far right. The tankies are doing whatever that is. Where's the space for the people who want fully-automated-luxury-gay-space-communism, but realize that it's gonna take a while and there are lots of steps between now and then? Here. This is that space.
Here, people should endeavor to discuss and devise practical, actionable leftist action. Vote lesser evil while you build grassroots coalitions. Unionize your workplace. Participate in SRAs. Build cohesion your local community. Educate the proletariat.
This is a place for practical people to develop practical plans to implement stable, incremental improvement.
If you're dead-set on drumming up all 18,453 True Leftists® into spontaneous Revolution, go somewhere else. The grown ups are talking.
Rules:
-1. Don't be a dick. Racism, sexism, other assorted bigotries, you know the drill. At least try to default to mutually respectful discussion. We're all on the same side here, unless you aren't, in which case kindly leave.
-2. Don't be a tankie. Yes I'm sure you have an extensive knowledge of century-old theory. There's been a century of history since then. Things didn't shake out as expected, maybe consider the possibility that a different angle of attack might be more effective in light of new data.
-3. Be practical. No one on the left benefits from counterproductive actions. This is a space informed by, not enslaved to, ideology. Promoting actions that are fundamentally untenable in the system in question, because they fulfill a sense of ideological purity, is a bad look. Don't do that.
founded 4 months ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
What chronically online group do you consider yourself a part of? Terminally online weirdos who call out other terminally online weirdos? It's the terminally online party that really bothers me about some people, it tends to drive people insane no matter what their political affiliation.
I mean, I'd fit in that category. Mostly, and as I've repeated on here, I try to keep in mind that, though lunatics are not a negligible part of the electorate, they are still a very small part of it, and that the vast majority of leftists in the real world are willing to work and voice support for progressive causes.
I (unfortunately?) have extensive exposure to the outside world here in the US, for lack of other options, and am constantly reminded of that which the polls - both academic and electoral - continually bore out - that this is not a peoples who are as left as I - or most people on the Fediverse - would like.
Mostly it's that people who are terminally online tend to assign lower priority to other forms of social interaction and information gathering, combined with the ability of online communities to 'self-select' across vast geographic and cultural distances for ideological uniformity, and you have a recipe for one hell of an information bubble. Hell, how many times on here have I seen assertions that going left is the one and only solution needed to win elections going forward in the US, a country where the majority of the less-right-wing party and independents (who are generally more right-wing on average) want the country to either stay the same or go further right?
People get caught in these online maelstroms because it feels good to have people agree with you, and it feels good to have easy answers.
That's not even getting into questions of algorithms wrt what information is seen when searching.
The electorate does a left/right dance in the US that skates between the societal definition of left and right (or proggressive/conservative) at the time, it's a moving target, i mean shit the entire thing flipped in the US and people are still confused about what happened during the Civil rights era with the southern conservatives.
I would argue our current issue is the recently separated definition of social issues with money issues. Which, imo, started happening post dot Com bubble and caused a rejection of the liberalism that was very popular pre-trump. Now the pendulum swing is conservative, despite Trump doing so bad during covid that Biden got elected. The democrats leaned into the inflation index as a marker of progress which caused people to feel they were disconnected from signs of struggle, especially amongst the young. Dem policies largely blocked by groups of their own, the Manchins, the Sinemas, the blue dog democrats with Clinton (there's always enough to ensure we don't get a public option in obamacare).
We could have had this happen during the red scare and got McCarthyism, but another tyrant was available. This era has definitely made things more visible aka complicated, but we've been in dire straights before.
You spending all your time online isn't helping you or anyone, it's just making you more crazy. Them to! Maybe read some fucking books or something, clearly your eyes are fine.
The vast majority are like the one who made the comment. They cannot accept that Jews (and Arabs) are not going anywhere from the Levant. They have redefined Zionist as a slur rather than someone who thinks Jews should retain their own small ethno state (albeit surrounded by over 20 Muslim ethno states).
Anyone who criticizes Hamas are called genocidal baby killers (much like anyone who criticizes Israel is called anti-semitic, although that happens far less often).
Uh, doubtful, both by polling and personal experience.
...
When did ethnostates become acceptable again? Did the clock turn from 2025 to 1925 when I wasn't looking?
I'm not sure you understand what an ethnostate is
You're kidding, right?
Speaking as someone who is very offput by the whitewashing of Hamas atrocities, it is far more common for critics of Israel to be labeled antisemitic than for critics of Hamas to be labeled genocidal baby-killers.
Now I'm certain you don't understand what an ethnostate is.
Compare r/worldnews (generally pro Israel) with r/animetitties (pro Pal) to see what I mean (the latter is a serious news sub; long origin story).
FYI in case it wasn't just a typo, "apart" means almost the opposite of "a part"
Good catch there Webster, fixed!