this post was submitted on 22 Feb 2026
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Lefty Memes

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An international (English speaking) socialist Lemmy community free of "ML" (read: Dengist) influence. This is a place for undogmatic shitposting and memes from a progressive, anti-capitalist and truly anti-imperialist perspective, regardless of specific ideology.

Serious posts, news, discussion and agitprop/stuff that's better fit for a poster than a meme go in c/Socialism.

If you are new to socialism, you can ask questions and find resources over on c/Socialism101.

Please don't forget to help keep this community clean by reporting rule violations, updooting good contributions and downdooting those of low quality!

Rules

Version without spoilers

0. Only post socialist memes


That refers to funny image macros and means that generally videos and screenshots are not allowed. Exceptions include explicitly humorous and short videos, as well as (social media) screenshots depicting a funny situation, joke, or joke picture relating to socialist movements, theory, societal issues, or political opponents. Examples would be the classic case of humorous Tumblr or Twitter posts/threads. (and no, agitprop text does not count as a meme. Please post agitprop here)


0.5 [Provisional Rule] Use alt text or image descriptions to allow greater accessibility


(Please take a look at our wiki page for the guidelines on how to actually write alternative text!)

We require alternative text (from now referred to as "alt text") to be added to all posts/comments containing media, such as images, animated GIFs, videos, audio files, and custom emojis.
EDIT: For files you share in the comments, a simple summary should be enough if they’re too complex.

We are committed to social equity and to reducing barriers of entry, including (digital) communication and culture. It takes each of us only a few moments to make a whole world of content (more) accessible to a bunch of folks.

When alt text is absent, a reminder will be issued. If you don't add the missing alt text within 48 hours, the post will be removed. No hard feelings.


0.5.1 Style tip about abbreviations and short forms


When writing stuff like "lol" and "iirc", it's a good idea to try and replace those with their all caps counterpart

  • ofc => OFC
  • af = AF
  • ok => OK
  • lol => LOL
  • bc => BC
  • bs => BS
  • iirc => IIRC
  • cia => CIA
  • nato => Nato (you don't spell it when talking, right?)
  • usa => USA
  • prc => PRC
  • etc.

Why? Because otherwise (AFAIK), screen readers will try to read them out as actually words instead of spelling them


1. Socialist Unity in the form of mutual respect and good faith interactions is enforced here


Try to keep an open mind, other schools of thought may offer points of view and analyses you haven't considered yet. Also: This is not a place for the Idealism vs. Materialism or rather Anarchism vs. Marxism debate(s), for that please visit c/AnarchismVsMarxism.


2. Anti-Imperialism means recognizing capitalist states like Russia and China as such


That means condemning (their) imperialism, even if it is of the "anti-USA" flavor.


3. No liberalism, (right-wing) revisionism or reactionaries.


That includes so called: Social Democracy, Democratic Socialism, Dengism, Market Socialism, Patriotic Socialism, National Bolshevism, Anarcho-Capitalism etc. . Anti-Socialist people and content have no place here, as well as the variety of "Marxist"-"Leninists" (read: Dengists) (actual ML's are welcome as long as they agree to the rules and don't just copy paste/larp about stuff from a hundred years ago).


4. No Bigotry.


The only dangerous minority is the rich.


5. Don't demonize previous and current socialist experiments or (leading) individuals.


We must constructively learn from their mistakes, while acknowledging their achievements and recognizing when they have strayed away from socialist principles.

(if you are reading the rules to apply for modding this community, mention "Mantic Minotaur" when answering question 2)


6. Don't irrationally idolize/glorify previous and current socialist experiments or (leading) individuals.


Notable achievements in all spheres of society were made by various socialist/people's/democratic republics around the world. Mistakes, however, were made as well: bureaucratic castes of parasitic elites - as well as reactionary cults of personality - were established, many things were mismanaged and prejudice and bigotry sometimes replaced internationalism and progressiveness.



  1. Absolutely no posts or comments meant to relativize(/apologize for), advocate, promote or defend:

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Apologies for the first depiction of the fed, I didn't make this image :/

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[–] Pat_Riot@lemmy.today 39 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Nice to see sike spelled right for a change.

[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 18 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

Is it correct? Doesn't it derive from "psych out"?

[–] Pat_Riot@lemmy.today 14 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Gen X spelled it sike. We used it a lot, too. This meme is on point.

[–] rbos@lemmy.ca 8 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

Gen X here. Well,borderline. I choose which as convenience dictates. Psych is correct.

[–] Pat_Riot@lemmy.today 1 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Now you have me wondering if it was regional, because it was definitely sike in Florida all the way through the '80s.

[–] ghost@literature.cafe 2 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

florida is by default the wrong way to do everything.

[–] Quill7513@slrpnk.net 2 points 6 hours ago

little secret: Florida isn't as different from the rest os the US as people think. it just has a different law about journalistic reporting on police reports than the rest of the country which makes their police blotter easy fodder for hack comedians who don't know robbing a gas station with an alligator in florida is the same energy as robbing a wawa with a badger in Pittsburgh, but the latter isn't reported by default

[–] Pat_Riot@lemmy.today 1 points 7 hours ago

It was a fun place to grow up.

[–] Quill7513@slrpnk.net -1 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

i learned it as sike comes from the swamp reclamation ditches in florida that skateboarders would hang out near. you'd shove someone in the ditch (sike) and say "sike" when you did a real dumb low stakes prank

[–] rbos@lemmy.ca 3 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

That is an interesting thought. And y'know, it's not like English hasn't had competing spellings for words before.

As long as there's a valid etymology, I'd treat either as correct. But granted, they can become correct through use even if it does come from a bone-apple-tea situation.

[–] Quill7513@slrpnk.net 2 points 4 hours ago

absolutely. there wasn't any prescribed spelling for anything until i think it was the mid 1800s. and dictionaries are meant to be descriptive of the language as it is, not prescriptive of what it should be

[–] Noite_Etion@lemmy.world 13 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Both "psych" and "sike" are used as interjections to indicate that a previous statement was a lie, joke, or prank, but psych is the original, formally recognized spelling, while sike is a popular slang variant. And yes, "Psych" derives from "psyched out" (to mentally confuse or trick someone).

[–] 4am@lemmy.zip 12 points 20 hours ago

Millennial here. “sike” is a Bone Apple Tea. It’s the equivalent of those “when you smell his colon” memes (misspelling “cologne”). If you use “sike” I consider you a dumbass; you really should know better.

That being said, it hit just right when the Piranha Creeper said it: