this post was submitted on 21 May 2024
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Lefty Memes

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An international (English speaking) socialist Lemmy community free of the "ML" influence of instances like lemmy.ml and lemmygrad. 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, and discussion 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)


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" seen on lemmygrad and more specifically GenZedong (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).


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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 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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[–] [email protected] 92 points 7 months ago (3 children)

Bro, we need Glassdoor for renting...

[–] [email protected] 37 points 7 months ago (4 children)

I'll build it, just as soon as you figure out how it gets paid for.

[–] [email protected] 55 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Get paid by landlords to remove negative reviews, like yelp. Offer to show all reviews, even removed ones, to renters that pay for the premium service.

Ew, I feel gross after coming up with that idea.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago

It's a lovely pattern to look out for, your efforts to show just how ugly it is, are welcome.

For anyone considering implementing this: No.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago

shake down bad landlords to delete bad reviews.

charge landlords for priority in search results.

sell searcher info as marketing data.

sell search trends as financial early indicators to hedge funds.

expand to HOA reviews for neighborhoods.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Real estate advertising, surely?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Yeah. No.

"Advertise your rental property on the page where your tenants review you."

[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago

Most retailer websites have customer reviews on them?

They could also promote houses for sale (not rent).

I think it works.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago

"I mean... If you really value your brand, you'll stand behind it? I can put you on the opt-out list though, so future tenants know you don't stand behind it. I'm offering value at a fraction of the cost of advertisement and you're paying for peace of mind."

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago (6 children)

Nonprofit ... crowd funded... build it and all you need afterward are paying for servers. Then you're just doing donations like Wikipedia. How much would would it cost to maintain such servers? Seems fundable by a wealthy liberal.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 7 months ago (2 children)

For apartment complexes there's yelp/Google maps reviews.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago (7 children)

I just left a building with 4.5 stars on Google that was an absolute horrific nightmare. Somehow they had gamed the system so that all the recent very negative reviews got mostly taken down or hidden. Do NOT trust Google reviews if you have any inkling the place is sketchy. (I did but the reviews and price were good)

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

Those are shit though, on average. Only the very upset respond. You're going to have to figure out a way to make the satisfied show up.

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[–] [email protected] 57 points 7 months ago (3 children)

References for renting? What sort of dystopia is that? I've never heard of that concept, luckily.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 7 months ago (4 children)

It's common in Germany to get a "reference" from your current landlord that basically just says "paid rent on time and didn't set anything on fire".

[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Huh. Here we have registries for people who habitually don't pay on time, with a cooldown once they're caught up. If you're not in the registry it's assumed that you're good.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago

Don't worry, we have that registry in Germany as well. And you have to pay to get your own data from them (although a GDPR request works once a year)

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago

See, that seems reasonable.

It doesn't say any more than it has to.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 7 months ago (15 children)

What country are you in? I thought landlord reference is the norm.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago (4 children)

not a thing i've ever heard of in sweden, either apartments are just expensive or you need to sign up for a waiting list and maintain your spot for like 7 years until you have the queue points needed for the apartment you want to rent

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 7 months ago

Never heard about it in Norway

[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago

I'm a Swede living in Denmark. Not a thing in Scandinavia, apparently.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago (9 children)

I'm having to do that now. Three years prior renting needs to be accounted for. I left on very bad terms with my previous landlord but I had to give the information over because it showed up on my history check and they refused to let my application be complete without it. So we'll see wtf is gonna happen...

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[–] [email protected] 41 points 7 months ago (3 children)

Wait, you only have to give a reference for a place to rent? Here in Ireland (Dublin) you need a scan of your passport, government id, work reference, housing reference, and at least bank statements from the last three months.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 7 months ago

Depends on the market. Like New York City is competitive, I think they demand references because they have plenty of options for tenants. Other places maybe not so much. Whatever people can get away with they will do.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago (2 children)

What the actual fuck? You renting a basement apartment or applying for a mortgage?

[–] [email protected] 15 points 7 months ago (1 children)

It's basically the same process. The ideal tenant is someone that can't afford a mortgage by the slimmest of margins.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Hang the land ~~lords~~ leeches.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

Room or studio apartment.

https://www.daft.ie/for-rent/studio-apartment-1-dublin-20-dublin-20/5704336

"Verifiable reference’s essential Verifiable affordability essential"

The passport, government id, and work reference are all to make sure you can "afford" to live there.

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[–] [email protected] 34 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

Catch 22 for everyone trying to move out of their parent's home when they specifically state the references can't be family.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 7 months ago

lie through your teeth, the landlord won't hesitate to blatantly lie so neither should you.

oh no no mr landlord sir, this isn't my dad, this is my "previous landlord"!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

just ask a friend and lie

[–] [email protected] 34 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Some landlords will give good recommendations for shitty tenants, just so they can get rid of them.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 7 months ago (1 children)

One guy I bothered every day about his other tenant stomping across my ceiling. That landlord gave me a fantastic recommendation because he was tired of having to do any effort whatsoever instead of just receiving money for doing nothing.

I saw that tenant as I was moving out, "I don't understand the problem, I always wore my indoor boots?" Fuck apartments lol.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 7 months ago

Can confirm, had a friend rent a room in a house I was staying in (privately rented from the owner) after months of issues, he was given a glowing referee from myself and the owner, and swiftly ejected from the house. Guarantee it got him out the door a shitload quicker.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Life hack: lie, steal and manipulate. Or be a honest homeless person. It's definitely not going to bother me.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago (1 children)

J Roc says Photoshop your pay stubs and get a friend to give you references

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 7 months ago (1 children)

It is an asymmetric relationship. The landlord only cares if a tenant can be trusted to pay rent and not trash the place. On the other hand, the tenant is getting a service (shelter and upkeep) from the landlord.

Like other service providers, an aggregate rating is probably more appropriate. Some people are fine as long as they have a roof and indoor plumbing while others rate 1-star if the water takes a minute to warm up. Some tenants care about kitchen appliances while others care about an updated bathroom. Some like to be woken up by the first rays of sun while others want a dark room to sleep in. It is important for tenants to both get a good aggregate of a landlord's quality but also understand if the landlord's faults are ones that they care about.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 7 months ago (28 children)

Being a landlord is morally wrong. Shelter is a human right, not a service. The service that they provide is not calling the cops to evict you so long as you pay them. They don't otherwise provide you with anything.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago (1 children)

So, grocery stores are morally wrong? I mean, food is a human right, isn't it? What about hotels?

Providing a necessary service in exchange for money isn't morally wrong.

Not everyone wants to own property. It's a huge financial liability, and a pain in the ass, tbh. I actually know people who sold their homes and moved into apartments because they were sick of the time and money required to upkeep a house.

While there are absolutely landlords who are immoral, especially corporate landlords, saying that being a landlord is inherently immoral is just incorrect.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago (4 children)

I do agree that grocery stores are morally wrong in some sense yes. People should not have to lend their bodies in order to eat. Hotels aren't morally wrong entirely, because they're only providing a place to stay temporarily. If they did provide long term stay and charged for it than yes that would be morally wrong. You'll note that I'm an anarchist.

There is no such thing as a moral landlord. And the people you're talking about downsized. The landlord does not do repairs, he hires handyman and trades workers to do repairs. The landlord collects a tax from you while giving you nothing in return. My rent is twice the monthly cost of a mortgage for a mini home in my area.

When you have a mortgage the money isn't gone when you spend it, it's used to pay off your loan. When you're done you own the property.

I will never own this property. None of my money is returned to me. It is taken by a person or entity who literally does not provide me anything.

I'll repeat, providing shelter isn't a service. What the landlord is providing you, is not evicting you so long as you provide them a taxation of your wages that goes straight into their pocket. If all landlords died overnight nothing would materially change except for all the people renting could now keep their wages, and hire the handyman to do the work themselves. Housing co-ops also cover the costs of upkeep by pooling money to spend. No, landlords are 100% immoral 100% of the time and your buddy who's a good guy and a landlord might be a good guy but it has nothing to do with his being a landlord. Some cops save dying animals and volunteer at soup kitchens I'm sure, they're all still bastards by participating in a system of militarized state violence.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 7 months ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 15 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Oh no it’s worse than that. I have mandatory binding arbitration so I don’t really have rights. Mind you that’s after the application fees and paying for my own background check, commonly used to strong-arm you into accepting horrible terms.

It’s that or be homeless.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago (1 children)

naybe its time to buy abandoned malls and convert them to dormitories with shared kitchens

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

You know, malls were initially envisioned as fully indoor planned communities. It didn't survive long, but it was a way better concept

[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago

The gallows and guillotine have a nice easy solution for all that bullshit.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

I think you're on to something...

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