Current Events > Got immediately banned from r/communism101

(+) Yeah! (+)

I made a post to a thread about tips to help convince people of the ideology. I made a post saying I was sympathetic to some ideas but didn't identify as a communist because of a very bad experience with a real life communism advocate. I listed what my turn offs with that person were. Banned like 10 minutes after posting

I really only made the post because I had no way to put into words my intense frustration with this person in real life and realized I could kind of let it out in a constructive way when I went to the subreddit and saw that thread. I didn't see anything saying that non-communists can't post so I dunno what I did wrong. Cant say this improves my perception of communists
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Youre better off in CE.
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r/communism is more or less r/stalinism
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Its reddit.

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What did you say exactly?
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Failure to hugbox and echo the platitudes is tantamount to blasphemy nowadays.

Umbreon posted...

What did you say exactly?

This. I'm curious what got you banned.
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If a North Korea/Cuba survivor were to post there, I wonder whether they would have the gall to ban the person for speaking out against their dear leaders.

Questionmarktarius posted...

Failure to hugbox and echo the platitudes is tantamount to blasphemy nowadays.

Reddit in a nutshell
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Copy your post so I can appropriately gauge on whether it stokes the flames of my revolutionary fervor or smothers them under a blanket of bourgeois oppression
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Umbreon posted...

What did you say exactly?

Exact post:

I am not a communist. I am sympathetic to communist ideas, but I've in fact been really turned away from it due to a communist I know in real life. So if it's acceptable, I would like to list some things I think you SHOULDN'T do if you want to bring people to your side. Some of this is logos, some of this is ethos.

-Don't approach people saying you're looking for spontaneous, genuine friendships, only to actively steer every lunch and hang-out conversation into a political lecture. This connects with the following:

-Make sure you have an identity and personality distinct from your political passions, or else you may be "that person" who is eventually socially isolated and avoided as a walking propogandizer (I realize the negative connotation vs actual definition of this word and am using it to underscore how people will think of you).

-Do not say that live media censorship in China is both real and a good thing because 'the party knows the truth and is shielding the masses from falsehood.' Do not refer to North Korea as the DPRK and deny the alleged human rights abuses there. Do not argue that people's grandparents who fled communist countries or suffered abuses were liars or idiots that should have stayed. Even if you genuinely believe these things, doing this is what I would call a "bad play." Especially if it's, say, the second day that you've known the people you're talking to. To put it simply these claims make you look like a big conspiracy theorist. It's like if thetan spirits were the opening line of scientology instead of therapy sessions; I bet they'd get way less converts that way. I know this is a fishy analogy because I'm comparing the ideology to a cult, but you should keep in mind that the average person will view your claims as a cult invitation if you lay these cards on the table so early on.

-Refrain from busting out what look like "fringe" sources. This shouldn't be too necessary to think about if you're adhering to the previous bullet. Stuff like 200-views-videos on YouTube or unsourced image scans of a supposed party document. I was given the latter (that was entirely in English?) as a proof that the 'Holodomor' was just a bad crop season. It did not convince me. This behavior makes your research appear 'ad hoc' and not worthy of serious consideration.

-I'm kind of repeating myself here, but seriously, don't use up all your time with people contesting mainstream records of atrocities committed by the USSR etc. For one thing, you have plenty enough material available from pointing out heinous problems in western countries, both past and present. Doing both at once makes you look like a "bizarro ultra-conservative" as I think of it, someone who has just bought communist propaganda over capitalist propaganda. More importantly, it should be your own words and actions that show people your ideas have merit, not the supposed actions of a collapsed state. Otherwise you're opening yourself to rebuttals like the less controversial success of some still-capital-based countries in Europe (since America's far-right economics and culture and their related issues seem to be the main point of attack for this type of communism advocacy).

-If you're on the defensive, telling someone "Stalin had to exercise statewide discipline and encourage Soviet international competitive-ness in times of war and civil instability and doubt" is a very different line from "Stalin was a glorious leader whose legacy is the victim of western propaganda, and bad stuff written about him is lies." One makes you sound well-read, and one makes you sound like the Marxist equivalent of a Reagan fanatic.
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What was the context with said encounter IRL?
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Be glad it was on an internet forum and not irl.

Banned irl = going to the gulag.

Go figure that the communists of today still take the Stalinist approach that even a hint of disagreeing with the authority means you have to disappear.

CommonJoe posted...

Its reddit.

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So you got banned for making up a strawman and trolling?

Fair next.
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PatrickMahomes posted...

What was the context with said encounter IRL?

Person at my high school. He would join new friend groups, burn his bridges with them by doing what I outlined in an above post, and move on to a new group, without seeming to change his tactics much.

It seemed to creep up on him, earlier on he just made passing references to liking communist societies and it seemed to take over his life. His girlfriend broke up with him and at that point I guess it was all he had left.
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ApexEditor posted...

If a North Korea/Cuba survivor were to post there, I wonder whether they would have the gall to ban the person for speaking out against their dear leaders.

I mean Americans get banned from The_Donald all the time so I wouldn't doubt it.
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Doe posted...

I would like to list some things I think you SHOULDN'T do if you want to bring people to your side.

This looks like concern trolling tbh.

Not saying you were, but if a random person came up to me and said that in regards to my beliefs (I'm not a communist), then I would suspect that they were just trying to cause trouble.
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Sounds to me like the mods there weren't as stupid as you thought they were and this topic is damage control.

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I can see why you were banned. I think that's a sub to ask about communism, isn't it? All you do is preach about what you think they should be doing, and don't ask any questions.

Should you have been banned? Probably not especially since this is the first time you posted, but for better or worse reddit mods have a ton of power. They're probably sick of people not following their rules too even if they had good intentions.
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Doe posted...

His girlfriend broke up with him and at that point I guess it was all he had left.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DVSyv3sHOs" data-time="
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Maybe so. But I tell you that's one of the most genuine posts I've ever posted to the internet. It felt so good to put it out there. I guess I was hoping my frustration would show through as geunine-ness
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Your post sounds like commandments instead of suggestions.
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I have only been to that subreddit since reading this topic, but I'm like 90% sure that expressing your frustration isn't the point of that subreddit.

Doe posted...

Maybe so. But I tell you that's one of the most genuine posts I've ever posted to the internet. It felt so good to put it out there. I guess I was hoping my frustration would show through as geunine-ness

Many russians genuinely loved their country and brought up grievances to the communist government.

Guess what happened? They went to the Gulag.

bluezero posted...

Your post sounds like commandments instead of suggestions.

I thought my preface was enough, I wrote that post like I was talking to that really annoying dude.

In any case, they wrote back:


Here are the rules:


The thread was "How do I convince people communism is good?"

The rules only say that you should only post Marxist answers as opposed to say anarchist answers. In the thread there are negative instructions by other posters like "don't bring up NK" and "Start with Cuba not USSR" so I was under the impression that my post would be acceptable. Like, if I had just identified as a Marxist, do you think that would have made my answer Marxist enough? That's what I'm kinda getting from this whole thing regarding how their rules are written. Unless Marxist thought REQUIRES you to deny the Holodomor.
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Any idea where I could post that grievance list without getting banned? I really want to put it out there
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Doe posted...

Any idea where I could post that grievance list without getting banned? I really want to put it out there

Do the debatecommunism like the mod said.

Debatecommunism is explicitly for prompt questions, I doubt I can just drop my load like I thought I could in the "how to convince people thread"

I'll try though
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I dunno how to phrase it
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You thought and felt incorrectly

lol why the fuck would you want to participate in a landfill like that to begin with...?

you screwed up by bargin in with "don't do this" commandments for a bunch of strangers, on a political forum no less
but the place's rules are as laughably ridiculous as their claim its an "educational" space when those rules actively stomp out constructive discourse

debate is a rudimentary part of higher education, it improves grasp of the material through thought -provoking application
"safespace" approaches ("you can't say this here") just feed echo chambers and diminish educational opportunities

its like youre mourning the loss of a key for a door that just lead to nowhere...
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fenderbender321 posted...

Unspecified_NPC posted...

Questionmarktarius posted...

Failure to hugbox and echo the platitudes is tantamount to blasphemy nowadays.

Reddit in a nutshell

Society is becoming that way too.

"becoming"

NonDairyMiltank posted...

debate is a rudimentary part of higher education, it improves grasp of the material through thought -provoking application

Communism regimes do not encourage debate.

Debate tends to expose things they would rather not be exposed.

Education means you agree with what the officials say even if you know it is wrong.

communists and silencing any dissenting view, name a more iconic duo
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AlephZero posted...

communists and silencing any dissenting view, name a more iconic duo

The irony is that sub probably claims communism doesn't mean autoritarian tyranny. They probably claim it can work somewhere.

Yet when the people claiming this get an ounce of power they go 100% authoritarian tyranny.
Their sub is a microcosm of their own fallacy.

Questionmarktarius posted...

Failure to hugbox and echo the platitudes is tantamount to blasphemy nowadays.

Yeah people must not even realise how much self-censorship they're inflicting
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Political subreddits are the anus of the internet
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fenderbender321 posted...

Questionmarktarius posted...

fenderbender321 posted...

Unspecified_NPC posted...

Questionmarktarius posted...

Failure to hugbox and echo the platitudes is tantamount to blasphemy nowadays.

Reddit in a nutshell

Society is becoming that way too.

"becoming"

Yeah, I am being nice lol.

TC wouldn't be telling these lies in person because he'd have to prove his strawman exists.
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I'm sorry that nobody will quote you Webmaster
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Doe posted...

I'm sorry that nobody will quote you Webmaster

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I once joined a far right Christian forum to talk about my beliefs on religion and question a couple of things.

And I wasn't instantly banned, oh no.

The mods changed my password, renamed my account to "Cockroach" and made it post stupid things insulting myself over and over thousands of times.

They even changed the avatar to a cartoon picture of a cockroach I think from that Monsters vs Aliens film.

And I was like "Yep, that's definately what Jesus would have wanted."
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UnfairRepresent posted...

I once joined a far right Christian forum to talk about my beliefs on religion and question a couple of things.

And I wasn't instantly banned, oh no.

The mods changed my password, renamed my account to "Cockroach" and made it post stupid things insulting myself over and over thousands of times.

They even changed the avatar to a cartoon picture of a cockroach I think from that Monsters vs Aliens film.

And I was like "Yep, that's definately what Jesus would have wanted."

The new left is the old right.

"Hugbox or GTFO" is nothing new. It was just stolen from busybodies and moral crusaders from a couple generations ago.

UnfairRepresent posted...

I once joined a far right Christian forum to talk about my beliefs on religion and question a couple of things.

And I wasn't instantly banned, oh no.

The mods changed my password, renamed my account to "Cockroach" and made it post stupid things insulting myself over and over thousands of times.

They even changed the avatar to a cartoon picture of a cockroach I think from that Monsters vs Aliens film.

And I was like "Yep, that's definately what Jesus would have wanted."

This happened