Incase anyone tells you that lemmy.ml is not a tankie instance.

  • PugJesus@lemmy.worldM
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    237
    ·
    11 days ago

    Look, NATO is bad, that’s why it’s absolutely necessary for anti-imperialism purposes that Russia invades its neighbors before they can get into NATO!

  • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    166
    ·
    11 days ago

    I’d be glad if NATO didn’t exist.

    It would mean countries wouldn’t feel threatened by their neighbors, and no invasions would happen.

    But until that is the case, NATO is necessary.

    • calcopiritus@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      36
      ·
      11 days ago

      I would much prefer every country in the planet being in NATO.

      Any country attacks any other country? Literally the whole world goes to defend it. So no invasions are possible.

      It wouldn’t work though. Wouldn’t take much time for alliances to form that agree to not follow NATO’S rules.

        • PugJesus@lemmy.worldM
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          43
          ·
          edit-2
          11 days ago

          Nato already does not enforce their mission against the US and US backed vassel states

          When did the US invade a member of NATO, again?

          • archomrade [he/him]@midwest.social
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            10 days ago

            Sorry, their presumed mission of ensuring peace in Europe through collective defense.

            It’s built and structured around Russia being the main antagonist but it’s mostly been the US who’s activities have been destabilizing the security of Europe.

            But you’re right, the explicit mission is to protect their members and noone else, so I guess everything is working as intended

            • PugJesus@lemmy.worldM
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              8
              ·
              edit-2
              10 days ago

              It’s built and structured around Russia being the main antagonist but it’s mostly been the US who’s activities have been destabilizing the security of Europe.

              lol

              Tell me more about how America’s aggression turned the Baltic Sea into a NATO lake.

              Fascists like you just can’t help yourselves when it comes to Russia, can you?

              • archomrade [he/him]@midwest.social
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                2
                ·
                10 days ago

                I have no problem acknowledging Russia’s aggression and imperialist activities, but NATO fanboys pretend as if NATO members are the ‘good guys’ and cannot themselves be seen as the instigators of European conflict.

                NATO ends up categorizing conflict in Europe into two sides and ignores all conflict originating on the member side. An alliance that includes all members would at least in-theory be more equitable, but we already know that even a global supergovernment can selectively enforce their mission and ignore offenses by particular members.

                • PugJesus@lemmy.worldM
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  5
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  10 days ago

                  but NATO fanboys pretend as if NATO members are the ‘good guys’ and cannot themselves be seen as the instigators of European conflict.

                  Hey, want to tell me what the European conflict going on right now is and who instigated it?

                  Maybe you could also do the last major European conflict too, just for fun?

                  “NATO is sabotaging European security” is such a braindead talking point that requires not just ignorance, but active denial of reality. It’s unsurprising that fascist shitheads find it so very appealing to parrot.

      • MindTraveller@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        11 days ago

        Nah, I want war. I want the rest of the world to go to war with the US. They’ve got a Nazi problem. We beat the Nazis in 1945 and we might need to beat them again in 2045.

        • Zink@programming.dev
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          11
          ·
          11 days ago

          My brother in freedom, we first need to make sure the US and all of our big shiny weapons are on the side against the Nazis. I think we have a good shot at it, but it’s not a guarantee.

        • Zink@programming.dev
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          11 days ago

          My brother in freedom, we first need to make sure the US and all of our big shiny weapons are on the side against the Nazis. I think we have a good shot at it, but it’s not a guarantee.

      • taladar@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        49
        ·
        11 days ago

        That might be hard to grasp but sometimes the interests or rulers and elites do align to some degree with the average person in their country. Most rich and powerful people have a lot of investments that are worth significantly less when unpredictable things such as invasions happen that disrupt trade.

        • index@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          11 days ago

          Humanity is literally on the verge of extinction due to global warming and you still believe rulers gives a single shit to anything that isn’t money or power? War is a business.

            • index@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              3
              ·
              10 days ago

              Go explain that to the biggest 10 companies in the world. I doubt you have enough money to sit at their table. Stop giving a fuck about everything around you and focus on money and wealth alone and perhaps you will get a chance to talk with their executives.

                • index@sh.itjust.works
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  2
                  ·
                  10 days ago

                  I think it’s simple to see how greedy people try to take as much as they can without thinking of the consequences. Money and power are a drug

      • boonhet@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        11
        ·
        10 days ago

        I mean the rulers and elites live in the same countries as many of us do and they sure as shit don’t want war where they live. It might not be here to defend us, but it’s here to defend the countries we live in.

        • index@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          10 days ago

          War is a business and a tool to get more power. Rulers and elites cares about money and wealth they don’t give a fuck about the planet or peasants. Just look around yourself

          • boonhet@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            6
            ·
            10 days ago

            That’s true. But then, if you’re a ruler, the best war is one that your own country isn’t fighting, but you can profit off of. Which is why they’re still incentivized to keep peace in their own countries, but not so much half a planet away.

            • index@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              10 days ago

              That’s true. But then, if you’re a ruler, the best war is one that your own country isn’t fighting

              If you are a ruler you probably don’t give a fuck about anything that isn’t money and power.

                • index@sh.itjust.works
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  3
                  ·
                  10 days ago

                  Idk ask them. Billionares or authoritarian rulers are basically addicts who don’t make rational choices. Their “bunker” is probably a palace with servants

      • moonleay@feddit.org
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        33
        ·
        edit-2
        11 days ago

        Yes. Go to: settings > blocks > scroll down

        At the end of the page, below your blocked users and communities, there is a list of instances, which you blocked. You can add instances there aswell.

        • SorteKanin@feddit.dk
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          6
          ·
          10 days ago

          Please be aware that user-level instance blocking is not the same as instance-level defederation. User-level instance blocking is equivalent to blocking all the communities from that instance. AFAIK you’ll still see posts and comments from the blocked instance in other communities. More problematically, the blocked instance still influences your feed via its votes.

        • mergingapples@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          10 days ago

          I’m using thunder, on mobile. All I know is I am on lemmy.world, any idea how to modify what instances I am connected to with that?

          • moonleay@feddit.org
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            10 days ago

            Account > gear icon / settings > User/Community/Instance Blocks > Instances

            You can manage your blocked instances there.

          • QualifiedKitten@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            10 days ago

            On Thunder, you can also long press on a comment or post, and it will bring up an action menu. If you click the “Instance” option there, you should see a “Block Instance” option.

      • FearfulSalad@ttrpg.network
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        16
        ·
        11 days ago

        Sync has it as an app option, and several of the apps I was using prior to sync had something similar.

        This has vastly improved my experience on Lemmy’s Top 6 Hours

      • SorteKanin@feddit.dk
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        edit-2
        10 days ago

        No. User-level instance blocking is not the same as instance-level defederation. User-level instance blocking is equivalent to blocking all the communities from that instance. AFAIK you’ll still see posts and comments from the blocked instance in other communities. More problematically, the blocked instance still influences your feed via its votes.

  • socsa@piefed.social
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    74
    ·
    11 days ago

    Ah yes, that paragon of leftist virtue…

    …*checks notes*…

    Muammar Gaddafi?

    And they wonder why they don’t get taken seriously.

    • Miaou@jlai.lu
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      24
      ·
      10 days ago

      The point is not that Gaddafi was a leftist, but that NATO is an evil imperialistic offensive organisation that overthrows governments

      Of course Libya was never a NATO mission, was done by two countries (I include the UK as part of the USA at this point) that certainly could have coordinated even if NATO did not exist. France has always been the most NATO sceptical country in the union as well.

      Oh and let’s not forget that blaming NATO allows them to forget the real reason France got involved there. But why would they want to distract people away from Sarkozy and his neoimperialism? Let me check what’s he got to say about Ukraine… Yup, checks out

      • Valmond@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        10 days ago

        Yeah my money is on the 60.000.000€ (IIRC) Sarko illegally got for his electoral campaign from Gadaffi (donations and such are very regulated in France and that was clearly very illegal), and then Gadaffi started to get vocal about it… … and then suddenly he got caught bu French forces and oupsie daisy boom.

        Nothing to do with NATO.

    • Zeppo@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      10 days ago

      I think I was banned from some communities there but I don’t remember which ones and haven’t missed them. I’m probably better off.

  • stoly@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    55
    ·
    edit-2
    10 days ago

    lol before I realized what ml meant I made a comment that I thought that communism had never happened yet on earth but that it could one day. You wouldn’t believe the rage and attack from dozens of people who were inconsolable.

    They also got mad when I said that there are only a few actual leftists in government in the US. Turns out that everyone is one, dontchano

    • Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      26
      ·
      10 days ago

      Your first sentence is not wrong; as I understand Marx’s writing. Essentially it is not possible to go from agrarianism straight to communism without first building an industrial society. That’s how Russia / USSR, China etc don’t “technically” count.

      • stoly@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        38
        ·
        edit-2
        10 days ago

        I’m referring more to the fact that Marx envisioned the populace rising up. What really rose in places like Russia and China was a group of self appointed elites who were really just reactionaries.

        Tankies get mad because they believe that their utopia already exists and everyone else is an idiot for not ascribing to the same.

          • stoly@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            11
            ·
            10 days ago

            Exactly. My point at that time was to say that it can happen but had not yet.

            • Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              11
              ·
              10 days ago

              From my (very limited) understanding of Marx and Engels I suggest your point is correct. I don’t understand how a full-fat, red flag waving comrade could come to any other conclusion… but then I have no dog in this fight and no emotional need to be correct.

              • stoly@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                10
                ·
                10 days ago

                I think that’s why you and I aren’t tankies, militant vegans, hard evangelicals, etc. It’s not important enough to worry about.

              • squid_slime@lemm.ee
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                3
                ·
                10 days ago

                sadly there are many stalinists and moaists. the Russian revolution ended when stallin took power.

                • Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  9 days ago

                  Whilst it’s impossible to argue with the results of Moustachioed Jo and the Chairman the (human) cost of that process seems a bit… heavy, to my mind. Never understood their fanboys as a result.

        • mindlesscrollyparrot@discuss.tchncs.de
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          11
          ·
          10 days ago

          Marx thought that the revolution would need leaders, and so the self-appointed elites aren’t totally out of keeping. It’s just that they were then supposed to step down and let the people govern themselves.

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          10 days ago

          What really rose in places like Russia and China was a group of self appointed elites who were really just reactionaries.

          Are you suggesting the Red Guard didn’t exist and the Long March didn’t happen?

              • stoly@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                8
                ·
                edit-2
                10 days ago

                I’ll start over:

                Me: self appointed elites did this

                You: oh so you’re saying that none of it happened?

                It’s a non sequitur, it has nothing to do with the conversation.

                • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  2
                  ·
                  10 days ago

                  Me: self appointed elites did this

                  Again, you really need to go back and read the history of the Chinese Revolution of you believe this. I might - at a bare minimum - crack open a copy of Fanshen or Life and Death in Shanghai. The idea that the Chinese Civil War and Cultural Revolution were waged by “elites” in any conceivable sense is flatly wrong. It is ahistorical to the point of being the opposite of truth. Like insisting George Washington was a First Nations native person or asserting the French Revolution was orchestrated by the Hapsburgs.

                  At its ugliest, Chinese revolutionaries were arresting, beating, and executing anyone who might vaguely be defined as “elite”. You were having people fight over whether parents should be executed for being landlords over their children. The opening scene of the Netflix “3 Body Problem” wasn’t all that far from the truth - college professors were, in fact, getting hauled out in front of student committees for adhering to the texts of English and German physicists. The very idea of “elitism” was what was on trial during the hottest years of the revolution.

                  It’s a non sequitur

                  You don’t know your history. You’re saying things that are flatly, broadly, and totally incoherent.

      • PugJesus@lemmy.worldM
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        29
        ·
        10 days ago

        Your first sentence is not wrong; as I understand Marx’s writing. Essentially it is not possible to go from agrarianism straight to communism without first building an industrial society. That’s how Russia / USSR, China etc don’t “technically” count.

        Don’t worry, Lenin et co said you could do it if you believed extra super hard and gave all the power to a small clique of intellectuals. Lenin, like Jesus and the Gospels, takes precedence over prior teachings.

        • Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          20
          ·
          10 days ago

          That’s a good analogy. The mental gymnastics needed to be Marxist-Leninist is akin to believing both the old and new testaments are - essentially - about the same guy. I’m particularly thinking about New Economic Policy existing in a communist state. Wild.

          • PugJesus@lemmy.worldM
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            15
            ·
            edit-2
            10 days ago

            [Overthrows the SRs for daring to say capitalism must come first to industrialize Russia]

            [Implements capitalism to industrialize Russia]

            • MouseKeyboard@ttrpg.network
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              6
              ·
              10 days ago

              It’s like how the Saudi activists who called for women to be allowed to drive remained in prison after it was legalised; it’s not about the policy itself, it’s about defying the ruler.

            • Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              5
              ·
              10 days ago

              For a minute I thought SRs was a speech-to-text mistake for “Tsars” and was super confused - but then it all made sense. Been a long time since I’ve talked about this stuff.

                • Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  5
                  ·
                  10 days ago

                  Socialist Revolutionary Party. Two capital letters and one lower case is how it’s written. Go figure. They were in the mix of Russian politics in that era.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        12
        ·
        10 days ago

        That’s how Russia / USSR, China etc don’t “technically” count.

        The Lenin government did experiment with a direct transition to full communism, but found - as Marx predicted - that they didn’t enjoy the industrial surplus needed for a post scarcity society. So he rolled back to the New Economic Plan, which Stalin inherited. Stalin went full tilt on industrialization, which upset a lot of agricultural workers and ended with him putting down a revolt in his native Georgia and tendering his resignation as a result.

        The party wouldn’t accept the resignation, so Stalin had to come back and win WW2 as a result. Russia avoided the fate of many of the Eastern Bloc states thanks to that rapid industrialization.

        After the war standards of living surged, in large part thanks to the Communist model. The kind of communal lifestyle possible under pre-WW conditions wasn’t attractive anymore, so Russians kept industrializing over the next 40 years. And when they couldn’t match the US + Japan speed of development, they fell over in the attempt.

        But to say they weren’t “doing Communism”… The quality of life in the Eastern Block improved remarkably quick and access to resources was broad based and egalitarian. The economy was centralized and planned. The proletariat dictated the political agenda.

        Certainly, at the time, American economists could tell the difference between the US and Soviet systems, even if they doggedly insisted central banks making private loans was freedom while central committees allocating jobs and resources was tyranny.

        It’s only after the USSR collapsed that we got an earful about “Not Real Communism”.

        • Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          10
          ·
          10 days ago

          Thanks. I have no reason to doubt any of that. Just to clarify that by “technically” I meant that, as far as I could see, they were not necessarily dialectically-created(?) as per Karl (&Fred’s) original theories. It was more a view about the processes they used rather the outcomes they achieved.

          • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            8
            ·
            10 days ago

            they were not necessarily dialectically-created(?) as per Karl (&Fred’s) original theories

            That’s where you can argue that Lenin and Marx ultimately diverged. Trotsky was more of a Marxist hardliner, who insisted Russia simply wasn’t ready for a Soviet state. Stalin felt differently and went so far as to have a bunch of his detractors exiled/killed to prove his point.

            The Maoist Revolution in China took a substantially more Trotskyist approach, slow rolling reforms at a speed the majority of the public was willing to accept. Deng proved to be more long termist than Krushchev in his planning.

            And I guess history has proven which method was wiser.

    • TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      23
      ·
      10 days ago

      “Read theory and you would know what I’m talking about.”

      That is a common thought terminating response to any critique of communism. That being said, I learned to flip the table. Tankies talk about theory, so mention empirical and practical results. They tend to either shut down or ban you.

      • stoly@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        40
        ·
        edit-2
        10 days ago

        Marxism Leninism

        They are the original Lemmy devs which is why I joined there. Horrible mistake, reactionary idiots who project their insecurity on others while thinking that they are the only ones who figured out the secret sauce. Pretty much exactly sovereign citizen level quackery.

        look up the word “tankies” to get an idea

        • Rekorse@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          8
          ·
          10 days ago

          To be fair, how do westerners not treat capitalism and democracy with exactly the same weight? I think both sides would have good reason to argue that neither side has figured out the secret sauce as you say.

          Not a huge stretch to think both the US and Russia treat their citizens poorly, and neither is a model for the rest of the world.

  • Ibaudia@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    53
    ·
    11 days ago

    Those… aren’t even mutually exclusive opinions? NATO can exist for more than one reason.

    • Maxnmy's@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      32
      ·
      11 days ago

      There is only one good opinion at any time, citizen. The correct opinion (my opinion) can change any time, but any different opinion is doubleplusungood.

    • LarmyOfLone@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      edit-2
      10 days ago

      Well if NATO exists for more than one reason and serve multiple purposes, then claiming NATO exists only for defensive purposes is wrong. Since it also exists for other purposes. Then it is also wrong that it is necessary harmless to Russia. I believe that is a logical conclusion?

      But as soon as you express such an opinion you get branded a putinist and downvoted. That is why the lemmy.ml community protects itself from nato expansion lemmy.world users.

      This question is so hot because it goes towards Russia’s justification for invasion, and for the claims of Ukraine and US to be completely innocent in the causes for the war. IF nato not only serves as a defensive organization but also serves as a tool for regime change then Russia does at least have a shitty justification for a preventive war - to prevent more arms building in Ukraine. And the war clearly has shown that Ukraine with enough weapon supplies by the west is a serious threat to Russia.

      You do NOT have to be a tankie to be angry about the “brinkmanship” of the US, Ukraine and nato - and Russia. You can be angry at all parties. But the overwhelming propaganda or dogma on reddit and lemmy.world is that only Russia is to blame. This makes any diplomatic solutions impossible.

      That is WHY the propaganda is so strong and why this opinion that nato eastward expansion represents not just defensive purposes is not allowed. Because otherwise you might end this war diplomatically.

      Now the overwhelming majority of users will not give one inch on this position. You see how they make fun of this very serious and painful topic. I feel empathy for all the ukrainian and russian lives lost and get angry at the jokers preventing any honest discussion about the causes and possible solutions to this war. It is as painful as the israel/palestine conflict. So .ml and hexbear DO need to protect themselves from these kind of “nato is only defensive” crap because frankly, it is painful.

      In this “post-truth” sense there is little difference between liberals or “lefties” and MAGAts. They deny historical facts or logical arguments. Except that the magats are weirdly also pro russia because of trump. That does not mean ml users are “pro” Russia or tankies. That is just a slur. There is plenty to hate about Putin. Especially his interference in social media and elections is abominable. But the neoliberals are no better!

    • bigboismith@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      120
      ·
      11 days ago

      Poor Gaddafi was attacked by the corrupt NATO, to the disgust of the rest of the world (except that it was resolution by the UN security council).

      • Zagorath@aussie.zone
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        67
        ·
        11 days ago

        except that it was resolution by the UN security council

        You mean the Security Council over which Russia has veto power? That UN Security Council?

        • Omniraptor@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          10
          ·
          edit-2
          11 days ago

          Russia’s decision to abstain in that vote happened under the notoriously “liberal” Medvedev and was a point of heated disagreement between him and Putin. It was arguably the breaking point for Putin deciding he needed to hold onto power indefinitely or else (in his view) a liberal president would let NATO do whatever they want, with Russia presumably being next on the chopping block

      • aleph@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        20
        ·
        edit-2
        11 days ago

        Except there is strong evidence that Western powers (predominantly France, the UK and US) created the fiction of Gaddafi being a global supervillain and then used NATO forces to enact regime change in Libya, under the pretext of “preventing civilian casualties”. In fact, the real objective was to secure Libyan oil reserves and open the country up to western markets.

        NATO is often used an extension of Western foreign policy. To pretend it is solely a benevolent peace keeper is just as simplistic and naïve as saying that everything the West does is pure evil.

        • frezik@midwest.social
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          40
          ·
          edit-2
          11 days ago

          Gaddafi was a supervillian. Almost literally:

          .

          It also wasn’t NATO who directly killed him. His own citizens did, and they weren’t kind about how they did it.

          NATO also wants stable oil reserves. Both these things can be true.

          • aleph@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            5
            ·
            edit-2
            11 days ago

            He certainly played up to the role, presumably for egotistical reasons, but most of it was sabre rattling bravado. He wasn’t seen as a genuine threat by Western intelligence agencies.

            Also, NATO forces didn’t have to kill Gaddafi directly in order to be instrumental to his deposition. Their air strikes were highly effective in destabilizing the regime and empowering opposition forces within Libya. Besides, you only have to look at the history of US intervention in Latin America for many examples of how regime change can be carried out via proxies and rebel groups.

            • TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              29
              ·
              11 days ago

              He certainly played up to the role, presumably for egotistical reasons, but most of it was sabre rattling bravado.

              My dude, this ignores like 40 years of him being the most unhinged leader in North Africa. He’s always been a wild card on the global political stage, swinging wildly from befriending revolutionary leftist, and then immediately dumping them for right winged dictators.

              The man literally tried to sell surface-to-air missiles to a street gang in Chicago… No one had to make him seem crazy, he was crazy.

              Now that doesn’t mean I think the US should have intervened, but I don’t think anyone had to really do any work to make him seem like an insane supervillain.

              • aleph@lemm.ee
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                5
                ·
                11 days ago

                That also overlooks all the times western powers were friendly with Gaddafi. They didn’t mind him following his ascent to power, nor in the post 9-11 period when the U.S. and European countries restored diplomatic ties with Libya, and Western oil companies re-entered the Libyan oil sector.

                In 2007, the UK’s Tony Blair visited Libya to strike up energy deals, and France’s Sarkozy met with Gaddafi for military and economic agreements.

                Was Gaddafi a supervillain then too, or did he only become one when his interests were no longer aligned with the Western powers?

                • TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  20
                  ·
                  11 days ago

                  That also overlooks all the times western powers were friendly with Gaddafi. They didn’t mind him following his ascent to power, nor in the post 9-11 period when the U.S. and European countries restored diplomatic ties with Libya, and Western oil companies re-entered the Libyan oil sector.

                  That was my point about him swapping out friends sporadically. Gaddafi had massive swings in political alignment throughout his time as leader of Libya. The reason nato/un could actually make a move on his government without greater political ramifications is because he’s burned every bridge across the political spectrum.

                  Was Gaddafi a supervillain then too, or did he only become one when his interests were no longer aligned with the Western powers?

                  Literally yes… Is it that surprising the west would work with a crazy despot that has a bunch of oil?

            • workerONE@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              5
              ·
              edit-2
              10 days ago

              US involvement in South America has been brutal- murder, terrorism, starting civil wars…Societies were torn apart in ways they may never recover from. How can you consider this an option and publicly advocate for it? That’s fucked up

              Edit: ITT people downvoting me who don’t want to hear about US operations in South America and also people who like US operations in South America.

    • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      23
      ·
      edit-2
      11 days ago

      One air campaign in Libya (permitted by UNSCR 1973) > fourteen Russian invasions

      Checkmate, Westoids

    • fuckingkangaroos@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      39
      ·
      edit-2
      11 days ago

      Hard agree. The Fediverse would be much healthier if more instances defederated Hexbear, lemmygrad, and lemmy.ml. They constantly spread propaganda for violent dictators.

      • PugJesus@lemmy.worldM
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        22
        ·
        11 days ago

        I find Lemmy.ml users tolerable, mostly. At least, not significantly worse than other instances. It’s the admins and mods that concern me. It’s why I avoid .ml communities like the plague.

      • Boomkop3@reddthat.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        11 days ago

        Yea, lemmy is a bit of a mess. And from some interactions I’ve had with mods and devs, it would seem they like their platform a bit derailed

        • socsa@piefed.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          9
          ·
          11 days ago

          Because there is a nonzero chance that Russia is funding Lemmy development and lemmy.ml as a propagandist training ground.

          Yes, I know that sounds insane, but the official donation tally is like $2300/m for lemmy.ml and Lemmy development, which means they either have some other funding or Dessalines is just choosing to be the poorest software engineer on the planet because he is just that cool.

          • Boomkop3@reddthat.com
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            5
            ·
            10 days ago

            That would not surprise me if true. I’m also noticing an oddly large amount of people I’ve blocked commenting in this thread.

            I can’t read their comments without going to a different app, but I usually only block people spamming bullshit or when they throw a lot of slurs at me.

          • boonhet@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            edit-2
            10 days ago

            which means they either have some other funding or Dessalines is just choosing to be the poorest software engineer on the planet because he is just that cool.

            Could just be a day job, or has he claimed to be working on Lemmy full time?

          • fuckingkangaroos@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            10 days ago

            It doesn’t sound insane at all. I don’t know if its a training ground, but I’d bet my arm there’s Kremlin funding being pumped straight into Lemmy.ml

    • calcopiritus@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      11 days ago

      Blocked ml months ago, couldn’t have made a better choice. Their user’s comments still show up though. Only ml communities get blocked.

      • stoly@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        10 days ago

        I give individual users the benefit of a doubt but I also long ago blocked it and several other tankie instances.

      • Boomkop3@reddthat.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        10 days ago

        I have the “boost for lemmy” app, it has wildcard filters. I used to to get rid of feddit, after about 20 of their users spammed me with slurs for not speaking german on an australian instance

  • Eunie@feddit.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    23
    ·
    10 days ago

    Honestly, can’t we defederate from that shithole. I don’t see why we need to get a post every other day just to ruin everyone’s day

    • Emmie@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      12
      ·
      edit-2
      10 days ago

      Well at least people got educated on left side extremism. I think it puts things in the broader perspective and maybe even someone decided to research these topics some more.

      It makes you wonder about communism as a whole. Does it always lead to totalitarianism? Etc

      It’s healthy to see all the nut jobs from time to time and reflect on your own steps.
      If your views align with the nut jobs for example that makes you wonder hmm something is wrong.

      • davidagain@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        23
        ·
        10 days ago

        Tankies are totalitarian right winners cosplaying as left wingers. Communism hasn’t been in power in Russia since Gorbachev. It’s been nationalists since then. They swung. They swung hard. They kept the totalitarianism and got rid of the leftness. I’d have made largely the opposite choice.

          • Emmie@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            6
            ·
            edit-2
            10 days ago

            Lenin was actually capitalist libertarian, they won’t tell you that in the history books written by rotten western imperialists but it’s true. You should read The Communist Manifesto.

            Moderators please we have a liberal in the comments, I can’t breatheee

            • diskmaster23@lemmy.one
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              edit-2
              10 days ago

              Been working my way through Richard Wolfe stuff first, then I’ll work on the classics. If Wolfe says USSR was state capitalism, then he’s a liberal too.

              • PersnickityPenguin@lemm.ee
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                9 days ago

                I’m totally ignorant here, but uh… Isn’t the point of communism to I close state capitalism?

                Communism is not Marxism, which afaik really has never been implemented.

          • davidagain@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            8
            ·
            9 days ago

            Russia embraced capitalism after the fall of the USSR then became an oligarchy where a bunch of super rich run the whole thing. Socialism is dead in Russia and has been for a long time. The only thing that didn’t change is that most people are cripplingly poor. Where have you been for the last 40 years?

        • PugJesus@lemmy.worldM
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          9
          ·
          10 days ago

          “I’ve never even seen a tankie on here before!” - an infinite number of tankie fellow travellers

          Although, to be fair, they’ve become much more rare in .world communities over the past few months. It’s nice, having only a few morons to wander in and make apologia for war crimes and totalitarianism.

      • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        10 days ago

        It makes you wonder about communism as a whole. Does it always lead to totalitarianism? Etc

        considering the answer to democracy is literally “well you can vote one in” as we have recently found out in america.

        Yeah probably. If even the most rugged institutions are not impervious to this problem, i think it’s fair to safe that no institution is.

        It’s healthy to see all the nut jobs from time to time and reflect on your own steps. If your views align with the nut jobs for example that makes you wonder hmm something is wrong.

        my rule of thumb for politics is that if you have an opinion it and you are wrong and you should stop holding that opinion. Politics is vastly too complicated for even a lifelong PHD thesis to be capable of understanding. Let alone some dude who gets all his news from idiots yelling at a camera online.

        The best thing we can do is to prevent ourselves from getting to extreme before it starts.

    • stinerman [Ohio]@midwest.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      10 days ago

      This is how it’s supposed to work on the Fediverse. If you don’t like an instance, you defederate. I take no position on people at lemmy.ml, but unless people are rage addicts the best thing to do is ignore instances you find objectionable.