It's a tricky prospect, trying to balance hate speech and distinguishing it from someone simply expressing bad thoughts.
I guess I'm someone who came with a lot of poor, preconceived notions, and it took some time, patience, and radicalizing to arrive where I am today.
I've had some pretty awful takes over the years and said insensitive things, but it's other comrades who turned me on to better ideas.
I got banned from SRS for asking a question about libertarianism and ended up a communist. Honestly curious people won't get banned or will lurk and learn. Right wing assholes do not deserve a platform here. It is the paradox of tolerance.
if your first interaction is a ban I guarantee they won't lurk afterwards. I had almost that exact same experience long long ago when I was a teenager, went into a socialist forum cus their politics seemed like something I liked. Was banned after like the 2nd or 3rd comment for saying something nice about liberals, cus then I didn't know the whole hate liberals thing that socialists do. Took over 10 years before I was even willing to listen to another socialist, cus to me it seemed like a ideology that wants good things but is totally authoritarian and unwilling to work with or accept anyone different. I know of at least one other person who had a similar experience. It can't be that uncommon, as one of the main criticisms of socialists I hear from libs is that socialists are cliquey and assholes to anyone who slightly disagrees. They're not entirely wrong sadly.
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Did you seriously think that was my only interaction with socialists? Basically every other interaction was similar, with them being aggressive and dickish to any kind of outsider. It's not as bad these days but still is pretty fucking bad. See here....
edit: I guess the guy deleted his comment but if he sees this, this exact conversation is one I had all those years ago. again this was maybe 06-09ish, can't remember for certain https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/comments/je5p9v/lockdown/g9deyf5/
It took me between 2011-2016 to open myself up to socialist theory after SRS banned my dumb libertarian ass. But I can guarantee you that having to debate the 400,000th Libertarian on reddit to try and change their mind would not have been effective. I was dumb enough to say “national socialists were socialists” as far back as 2012-2015; that conversation would have literally led nowhere.
I truly mean it, the people interest in theory will lurk or go off and read stuff on their own and that’s fine. We do not have a way to convert people to our side. It has to be their own conditions that helps them see the “light”.
Well that's not what I was talking about. I wasn't a libertarian but already sick of the democrats about a year after getting into politics after my 18th birthday, a progressive democrat. And still had people jumping down my throat. I mean hell it's not some crazy thing to say socialists forums are often shitholes, look at how many people get banned from so many of the reddit ones before the right wingers won and banned em all.