this post was submitted on 08 Oct 2025
332 points (100.0% liked)
Ye Power Trippin' Bastards
1550 readers
42 users here now
This is a community in the spirit of "Am I The Asshole" where people can post their own bans from lemmy or reddit or whatever and get some feedback from others whether the ban was justified or not.
Sometimes one just wants to be able to challenge the arguments some mod made and this could be the place for that.
Posting Guidelines
All posts should follow this basic structure:
- Which mods/admins were being Power Tripping Bastards?
- What sanction did they impose (e.g. community ban, instance ban, removed comment)?
- Provide a screenshot of the relevant modlog entry (don’t de-obfuscate mod names).
- Provide a screenshot and explanation of the cause of the sanction (e.g. the post/comment that was removed, or got you banned).
- Explain why you think its unfair and how you would like the situation to be remedied.
Rules
- Post only about bans or other sanctions that you have received from a mod or admin.
- Don’t use private communications to prove your point. We can’t verify them and they can be faked easily.
- Don’t deobfuscate mod names from the modlog with admin powers.
- Don’t harass mods or brigade comms. Don’t word your posts in a way that would trigger such harassment and brigades.
- Do not downvote posts if you think they deserved it. Use the comment votes (see below) for that.
- You can post about power trippin’ in any social media, not just lemmy. Feel free to post about reddit or a forum etc.
- If you are the accused PTB, while you are welcome to respond, please do so within the relevant post.
Expect to receive feedback about your posts, they might even be negative.
Make sure you follow this instance's code of conduct. In other words we won't allow bellyaching about being sanctioned for hate speech or bigotry.
YTPB matrix channel: For real-time discussions about bastards or to appeal mod actions in YPTB itself.
Some acronyms you might see.
- PTB - Power-Tripping Bastard: The commenter agrees with you this was a PTB mod.
- YDI - You Deserved It: The commenter thinks you deserved that mod action.
- YDM new - You Deserved More: The commenter thinks you got off too lightly.
- BPR - Bait-Provoked Reaction: That mod probably overreacted in charged situation, or due to being baited.
- CLM - Clueless Mod: The mod probably just doesn't understand how their software works.
Relevant comms
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
I'm a communist, and I support socialist states. I don't hide my positions, I have always been honest and forthright with them. You're a zionist stalker that revels in drama farming.
China isn't imperialist as it isn't driven by international extraction or export of capital, nor is it dominated by a financial oligarchy. The user I reported for being racist wasn't criticizing the CPC, they made a racist rant about how Chinese people live in filth, eat fake meat and fake tofu, can't build anything, and more. The moderator of that comm sided with the racist that sounds identical to how the French spoke of Africans during colonialism.
Ah, why is it you defend Russia? Russia is an oligarchy that finds its riches in oil and fossil fuels. They're not at all socialist.
I don't think Russia has a good economic model, nor would I want to live there. I do think it's forced strategically into trade with socialist countries, which is why it has a good relationship with countries like Cuba, and is working against western imperialism, which is the largest obstacle in the way of socialism worldwide. Additionally, support for socialism is rising over time:
So no, I don't somehow think Russia is socialist still, but at the moment socialist countries benefit massively from Russian trade and from temporary alliance against the west.
Oh, Cowbee, you and your statistics! How disingenuous you are.
For starters, that sample size is minuscule at only 1000.
And unsurprisingly, more countries think the dissolution was a bad thing than a good thing. Of course, Russia thinks the USSR was good, they were the oppressors. Life under the Soviet Union was grossly oppressive for the peasants, and especially if your country was the victim of Russian imperialism. You couldn't speak ill of the leaders, you had zero representation, and you faced the risk of your livelihood being ripped from you at any point. Your indigenous culture was even suppressed because it was considered anti-Soviet behaviour. There you go defending imperialism again, Cowbee.
And mind you, this is a survey before Russia's invasion of Ukraine!
You're right, that data is from before the Russo-Ukrainian war. It's even higher now.
Over four years, more than 63,000 people have become party members, with most of the new recruits being young people under 30 and “people of prime working age.”
“We are now seeing not just nostalgia for the past, but a conscious choice by millions of citizens in favor of the socialist path of development,”
KPRF restored all ties with the Communist Parties of China, Vietnam, the DPRK, with Latin America, with Cuba, with Venezuela, with Nicaragua..
The expansion and astronomical growth of grassroot movements like the Inmortal Regiment. This movement grew so large that plenty of countries around the world organized a similar march. It started small until it grew in a international movement.
The imperialist siege intensified and forced Russia to look elsewhere which lead to their economy into allying with plenty of the global south. This allowed more cultural/ideological exchanges with China , Belarus, Cuba, Vietnam and the DPRK.
There are now Russian grassroot movements that boost programs such Youth exchange with Cuba and the DPRK.
Further, the USSR wasn't imperialist. It had a publicly owned economy, and didn't base its economy on international extraction. The peasantry saw dramatic material improvements, it was the kulaks, bourgeois farmers, that were oppressed. For the peasantry, they saw a doubling of life expectancy, massive development, free and high quality education and healthcare, a tripling of literacy rates, and more. National identities were preserved and strengthened, while trying to develop an internationalist "soviet" identity compatible with all.
Overall, the majority regret the dissolution of the USSR.
What are these sources, my man? You gonna link to RT News next? Am I gonna need an antivirus to check these out?
And again, no shit, Russia would want more soviet union, they were oppressors and imperialists. And the majority of countries do not regret the dissolution. And hey, glad you mentioned the DPRK. You must hate North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia against Ukraine, yeah?
Do you think the communists are in power in Russia? No, absolutely not, so why would they be lying about verifiable information on the strengthening of opposition movements to the current nationalists? Further, information on trade increasing with countries like Cuba, etc is backed up by non-Russian sources.
The USSR was not oppressive nor imperialist. You keep claiming this, but it's wrong, the USSR did not run on international plunder, nor did it export capital, nor was it under the control of a financial oligarchy. Further, the vast majority of people, non-Russian included, regret the fall of the USSR.
Which you never linked.
Aw nice! A source from 2013. Let's have a look at a more up-to-date source and...
And notice how Cowbee is avoiding the question? He knows it's not a good look -- You must hate North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia against Ukraine, yeah?
I gave you sources, your only counter is that they are Russian so they can't be trusted, despite verifiable evidence being within them. It's all easily found on google, here's an article from Reuters talking about Russian-Cuban trade increasing.
As for posting the same source on countries like Estonia opposing socialism, that doesn't override that the majority of people support socialism. Countries like Estonia that celebrate Nazi collaboration of course have a reason to oppose socialism.
As for avoiding the question, no, I'm not. Russia and the DPRK have a mutual defense agreement, why wouldn't the DPRK send its support? Trade with Russia helped the DPRK reach 3.7% GDP growth in 2024 as estimated by the ROK, it's an immensely useful relationship for them.
I like to comfort myself by imagining that both of you are paid actors who make a living sowing discontent on Lemmy to prevent any chance of mainstream success for the platform.
Sadly, my rational assessment of the human condition compels me to believe that you are both entirely genuine, and just extremely confused and solipsistic. If you are indeed engaging in good faith, then I would pose the question of what you hope to accomplish by engaging in these idiotic, endless faux-debates.
Realistically, there is no arbitrator here; you are both entirely able to move the goalposts, recruit spurious evidence, ignore counterpoints, and generally make a mockery of a legitimate debate. Furthermore, you have a miniscule audience on this platform, greatly limiting the possibility of influencing third parties. Therefore, the only possible outcome of this interaction would be the outcome which has already been repeated ad infinitum on Lemmy and social media in general, namely the mutual exchange of insults, poorly constructed arguments, and badly sourced data.
What an interesting way to spend one's life. As I said initially, it would be less painful to witness if I believed that you were accomplishing something such as the general suppression of Lemmy as a social media platform by creating a climate of negativity and conflict (even though I oppose that goal).
But realistically you are probably like the vast majority of people in that you are hopelessly incapable of judging the impact of your actions on the world and/or yourself, and you simply prefer to follow your baser instincts rather than take a step back and consider if there might be a more efficacious method of achieving your purported goals. Gives major punching a brick wall energy.
It's much simpler, I'm a communist, and I try to do what I can to create more comrades. Many people have thanked me for helping change their minds, so I know it isn't worthless.
So what's your end goal here? What's the communist endgame?
Communism, globally.
That does sound attractive, very utopian, I like that. I'm unfortunately more of a realist and believe that human greed is just too inherent in our biology, not to say we shouldn't try, of course.
But the question is how? Through a stateless society?
Once all of production is collectivized, the basis of class ceases to exist, and thus the basis of the state erodes.
Communism isn't utopian, and greed isn't a matter of biology, but expressed to greater or lesser degrees depending on the mode of production.
And how would you prevent a state from forming in a stateless society? We are pack animals after all.
The basis of the state is class society. Once class is abolished through collectivized production, the oppressive elements of society that form the state, ie police, millitaries, etc erode. Administration will continue to exist, as will collective decision making organs, etc, but this is not what Marxists recognize as the state.
Marxists define states and governments as two separate things, you should look into this before you ask this question
Communists as a whole use the original meanings of the terms and not the modern ones.
Communism isn't a deus ex machina that would make all human beings instantaneously happy if they were to simply accept it unquestioningly. For that matter, communism isn't a comprehensive ideology at all, it's more of a collection of theorems regarding the socioeconomic development and structure of society, many of which contradict one another.
It's like a Christian who thinks they are inherently doing good by converting others to Christianity. You are taking a handful of decent theoretical ideas and imbuing them with the significance of divine revelation. Furthermore, you are arrogantly presuming that your flawed understanding of communism is the real communism, and discounting the possibility that other "communists" can easily interpret the ideology in such a way as to justify killing you due to your flawed understanding of communism. It's an incredibly naive position that doesn't withstand the most basic scrutiny.
Think about it like liberalism. The American and French revolutionaries claimed moral authority because they were overthrowing the hierarchical structures of feudalism and replacing them with republicanism, democracy, free trade, etc.
In retrospect, we can easily observe that these ideas and political movements, despite nominally being constructed to protect and enhance the freedom and equitability of human beings, have in reality created conditions which have massively infringed on the self-declared natural rights of human beings in ways that a feudal hierarchy could never have dreamed of accomplishing.
Likewise, even if society were to globally transition to communism, that would simply raise new problems and abuses of power that would need to be combated. In conclusion, "creating more comrades" is a futile and naive goal.
Additionally, there is a very convincing argument to be made that you have potentially pushed more people away from communism than drawn people towards communism, and you would obviously have no way of knowing whether or not that is true. From where I'm sitting, I see a lot more users who have blocked you and your ilk than those who have joined you, and my personal opinion of communism has grown significantly less favorable since I began encountering you people on Lemmy a few years back. But what do I know, I'm a dirty non-communist so therefore all of my thoughts and actions are clearly incorrect and evil in comparison to the enlightened and ethical behaviors of any individual who happens to adopt the moniker of communist.
God, ignorance really is bliss. What I would give to be simple-minded enough that I could ascribe a positive ethical value to something as utterly meaningless as "creating more comrades".
I never once said that communism is something magical that fixes all problems, nor have I placed religious significance on it. This giant wall of text is just you going on and on in flowery language without actually explaining how I fit the strawman you've made of me.
Communism, the ideology, is just the general organization towards collectivizing production and distribution. The process isn't magical, it isn't religious, but it has useful benefits and consistent practical knowledge developed by past communists and socialists to aid in reaching this end. That's what communism is. There's no magic utopia, and I have never said as such, nor have you explained how I misunderstand communism.
It's nice that you top off your comment with an ableist attack by calling me "simple-minded."
It's not a strawman, it's a realistic appraisal of your position based on the evidence of your actions. Just because you prefer to deny it verbally when it's laid out in front of you like that doesn't make it any less true.
If you don't believe communism is anything special or noteworthy, then you wouldn't spend your entire life on a fringe online forum attempting to convert a few dozen edgy teenagers.
You have a remarkable capacity for doublethink, which partially explains why you find communism so attractive as an ideology.
Thank you for calling my language flowery though, it's nice to be appreciated 🙃
You didn't lay out anything, though, you waxxed poetic about a strawman. You're even doing it now, just because communism isn't magical doesn't mean I don't think it's important and necessary. You're outright stating in this doublespeak that if something isn't religious or magical, that it isn't worth anything at all, then you call what I do "doublethink."
Secondly, I have a busy life outside of Lemmy. I like to spend my online time talking about theory and geopolitics, but I don't even moderate any comms except Hexbear's c/theory which I only use to pin and unpin reading threads. You're speaking like a Marvel villian right now without stating anything of substance.
You haven't even responded to my point that you're actively pushing more people away from communism than vice versa.
How can you think it's important and necessary if you can't even define what it is?
Does it? Can you give some examples of these benefits and this practical knowledge?
I'll go first. It is necessary to eliminate opposing political parties and ideologies to ensure the viability of any communist state.
You didn't back up that claim with anything other than vibes, though. Further, politics isn't a tug-of-war, if people firmly disagree with communism, a communist explaining the communist viewpoint with (generally) a level-head isn't pushing them away, it's the communism, full-stop. The fact that the absolute number of comrades has risen due to my interactions means it's a net positive.
Secondly, I can define communism, it's a stateless, classless, moneyless society where production and distribution is collectivized and based on satisfying the needs of everyone.
Edit: to respond to your edit:
Communists have learned good party structure, how to democratize the economy, and the usefulness of implementing controlled market forces in underdeveloped countries as a means to rapidly increase the productive forces. China, for example, is massively improving quality of life year over year, and was one of the poorest countries on the planet only a century ago.
I don't need to, I'm not the one focusing all my energy on converting people to communism without having any evidence of whether my methods are actually effective, or indeed, whether communism itself is effective.
Hahaha it's like when the CCP exterminated all the sparrows in China to protect the crops. It wasn't until millions of people started dying from starvation that they realized sparrows actually play a major role in controlling insect populations, and their idiotic extermination campaign had the opposite effect of what they intended. Apple doesn't fall far from the tree I guess. Shoot first ask questions later mindset.
Oh, or it's also like when the CCP instituted the one-child policy, only to belatedly realize decades later that they had inadvertently created a massive demographic crisis that has only begun to unfold recently. It's almost like blind adherence to ideology to the exclusion of one's ability to dispassionately examine the available evidence causes one to make bad, self-destructive decisions. Who knew? Certainly not communists.
Citation needed
Gotcha, you just wanted a place to practice your poetry and go on a polemic against me devoid of substance.
As for killing the sparrows during widespread weather disaster, it's widely recognized as a critical failure. Is your point that communism is bad if communists ever make a mistake? Life expectancy still managed to double under Mao, that's how horribly underdeveloped China was, and a famine under those circumstances of underdevelopment was something common prior to the communists. It was the work of the communists that stopped famine for good in China.
Not doxxing the users who have thanked me directly in DMs or publicly. You know that it's nonzero, if that's not "good enough" for you then that's your decision.
imaqtpie certainly talked about religion...
Yep, they keep flipping around black and white logic while trying to accuse me of black and white logic, even using Orwellian terms like "doublespeak" and "doublethink."
Having not read much theory, I have found your comments about communism and geopolitics helpful and insightful, thanks.
No problem, thank you so much!
If you want, I actually have an introductory Marxist-Leninist reading list, feel free to give it a look if you want to familiarize yourself more with Marxism-Leninism!
Holy copium batman 😂
A famine on the scale of the Great Famine, largely self inflicted by the federal government, was an entirely singular and unprecedented event. To attempt to portray the Great Famine as a common historical event or anything other than a tremendous black mark against the government which presided over it is clear evidence of bias on your part. Everybody makes mistakes, but the anatomy of the Great Famine was clearly the direct result of decisions made by the CCP that would never have been made under a different, less authoritarian political system.
I'd have to imagine that any neutral party reading through these comments will have gotten plenty of confirmation that my assessment of you is correct, in that your blind adherence to communism as a panacea prevents you from understanding or engaging with reality in objective, rational terms. Good day sir.
It was initially caused by adverse weather conditions in a semi-feudal level of development. Killing the sparrows made it worse, but the communists did the best they could with what they knew, and more importantly, were responsible for developing beyond that semi-feudal level and instead creating cooperative farms that were far more productive. None of this is cope, the famine would have happened under the Kuomintang had the nationalists won the civil war.
Secondly, nobody is siding with you here. Imagine this neutral party all you want, they don't exist at the moment.
Pure, unfettered cope. It's amazing that you know how events would have unfolded in an alternative timeline where the CCP didn't exterminate billions of sparrows. Your mastery of ecological science must be exceptional, I'm sure you've run the numbers on this and come up with a data-driven model that demonstrates the truth of your argument. Surely you wouldn't make such a claim without having copious amounts of statistical/historical/ecological evidence to support said claim.
Smartest thing you've said all day, neutrals don't really exist on this platform. I'm aware of that, discussions such as these are more useful for me to develop and work through my own positions and rhetorical techniques for exposing sophists and ideologues.
The famine started before killing the sparrows, that's why they killed the sparrows. You do realize that, right? And you do realize that communism isn't "kill the sparrows," correct? You have no logical process here, it's pure reaction.
If your goal is practicing rhetoric, then you've failed, though failure is a good teacher.
Global warming began before humanity started burning fossil fuels.
Do you think Planet Earth would be doing just as badly if humans had never started burning fossil fuels?
Because clearly you're implying the famine would have been nearly as bad if the CCP never started killing sparrows.
It's laughably easy to brush aside your counterarguments because your position is inherently irrational and based on emotion.
No, I outright stated that the famine was worse because of killing the sparrows. It was also alleviated by cooperative farming, and famine in general was alleviated by development.
I really think you need to reread this convo, because you keep saying I'm saying things I never did.
Do you believe that communism is only valid if communists have never made mistakes?
do you think capitalists have never made mistakes on the scale of the sparrows issue?
Lmao this is one of those normal people I'm talking about who view your discussions as little stage plays.
We all think you're weird for this stuff. Arp!
You mean the transphobic american nationalist is someone you hold as having well-thought out views?
Dunno, I didn't get any of that from this back and forth, just you being crazy and him spitting facts.
Your response to this is hilarious.
In what way was it hilarious? imaqtpie made the argument that "communism is when you kill the sparrows," when no modern communist thinks that was a good move. They're arguing against ghosts, while you defend zionists and transphobes.
I guess it depends how far your head is up your ass, I think all your responses are hilarious, it's why I bait them whenever I see you going off then spend all the time you reply to me insulting your points.
You're a TV show that's always on to me. You'll always be here blowing hot air into your friends and twisting them into balloon doggies.
Then when you meet and argument that's good and consistent, you ad hominem because your rhetoric is so weak and easily passed through.
You are my favorite thing on this site.
Nice, dehumanizing me, what a great thing to do.
Dehumanizing, you are my favorite human! Only a real person could be this obtuse and silly, I mean you don't stop responding and you're on ALL THE TIME!
It's amazing, I love you, you are my entertainment and you are a real person!
You called me a "thing."
What do you expect instead? You can't have a discussion with extremists.
I would just block and move on if I were you. Although I don't hold myself to that same standard because sometimes I can't resist interacting either, so I guess I can't really criticize you too much.
Usually I try to just speak my piece and dip though, whereas you tend to get fully drawn into discussions with extremists much more frequently and extensively than myself, and indeed seem to seek such interactions out. Just seems like a waste of energy and not particularly beneficial for your mental well-being.