Authoritarianism cannot be tolerated.

Except when it suits your agenda, in that case it's not only tolerated, but actually encouraged! :)

What is there to think about? I complain about people who support Soviet-style dictatorships having full control over online platforms moderating exactly as one would expect, and I get told by Random Guy On The Internet #368,452 that I'm apparently a hypocrite because wanting action to be taken to stop authoritarians from controlling social networks makes me the real authoritarian or something. All this to "suit my agenda", which in this case is wanting to be able to say that authoritarians are bad.

God forbid I find arguments like that incoherent and unworthy of taking seriously.

I’m apparently a hypocrite because wanting action to be taken to stop authoritarians from controlling social networks makes me the real authoritarian or something

No, you're a hypocrite because you see "them" censoring "you" and you scream "censure, you can't do that!!", but when it's "your" side is censuring "them", then you have no complaints, because obviously "your" censure is good, and their is "bad".

Or maybe I'm wrong and you're against censure in general? :)

I got a ban for pointing out the nuclear strikes on Japan killed less than the conventional firebombing runs leading up to it, and if nukes wouldn't have been used a shit ton more people would have died.

Like, no opinion on if what was morally right or not, just what the numbers worked out.

It's all trolls over there, when a rational person makes a community, the admins start drama there and troll the mods till they leave or get kicked out for stupid shit.

I just blocked the whole instance. I never see any of their posts now, and as an unintended bonus I don't even get notifications when their users reply to my comments.

Like, it would be best if we defederated from them and that hilariouschaos troll instance.

But I can just block them, works the same.

I’ve been banned from .ml for being a ‘racist’ for being anti-Xi, despite the fact that I am Chinese, and pointed out my ethnicity as such in the discussion.

And I've been censored (not yet banned, but I guess it won't take long till that as well) on lemmy.world (and beehaw) for spreading "misinformation" about Ukraine, despite being a Ukrainian and actually reading (and sharing) the local news of what's actually happening there, contrary to the government propaganda.

Right, so basically it's okay for countries to be authoritarian, it's okay to slaughter thousands of people and making everybody else live in constant fear, as long as the government aligns itself with the west.
Why would I blame Russia? It's not Russia, it's not Putin who is kidnapping people of the streets in Ukraine and sends them to die. It's Zelensky's regime.

Very cool and humanitarian and obviously I don't agree with that. But out of curiosity - can you please explain to me why is North Korea different?
It is also officially still in a state of a war with South Korea. Does it mean Kim Jong Un is suddenly also a hero that leads his country against the enemy? It doesn't matter that people are trapped there, it doesn't matter that people may not support him, all the atrocities committed by him do not matter as well, because they are in a war, am I right?

Russia.

Now, I answered your question, would you please be so kind to answer mine now, which is also quite simple?

If there are two men, man A is simply operating a meat grinder while man B kidnaps people from the streets (soon he will start breaking into people's homes as well), forcefully pushes them into the meat grinder, and watches to make sure they can't get out of it, he also makes sure nobody leaves the city so that he can continue his game, who do you blame more for deaths of people in the meat grinder?

sImPLY OPErATiNg A MeAT GRInDER

A meat grinder needs meat, you dunce. Activating the grinder in this metaphor is invading Ukraine. "Throwing people in the grinder" is sending people to stop the grinder.

I really want to understand their relationship with the CCP.

Do they genuinely believe the shit they're peddling or are they paid propagandists or is their something more nefarious afoot.

Do they genuinely believe the shit they're peddling or are they paid propagandists or is their something more nefarious afoot.

From my interactions, I've come to the conclusion that they're mostly seriously broken people who've discovered Marx, convinced themselves that capitalism is the cause of all suffering and believe socialism is the solution that will free them from their trauma. The degree of their attachment to socialism is a reflection of the degree of their suffering and brokenness.

If they weren't so toxic, they'd be deserving of compassion and forebearance.

I mean.... that description quite accurately describes me. I'm a broken person who has become convinced capitalism is a major source of strife in today's world, and have come to believe in socialism as the answer.

However... that hasn't led me to champion authoritarian states that repress people. There must be a little something extra thrown in there. My guess would be an unacknowledged desire to replace their oppressors.

This reminds me, I wrote something on the subject once:

When you're privileged, and never had to fight for anything in life, you probably won't even recognise it when you see it happen right in front of you. In fact, you might even write it off as baseless antagonism, a thoughtless disruption of peace, and side with the oppressors.

"What do you mean he didn't pay you? He's an honourable man! He pays me, every friday, on the dot! You must be lying."

Even more insidiously, though, is the fact that, even if you do suffer and fight your whole life, you still may not see it as oppression. You may even begin to think it the natural order of things, even begin to value and love the suffering, as a trial that proves your worth in life, internalising the values of your oppressors, until even the thought of a better life becomes not only fantasy, but dangerous sacrilege.

"He didn't pay you? Of course he didn't pay you. Welcome to life. Pay? You want a blowjob with that, too? Get real."

And with this internalisation of your oppressors' values, this adoption of their mindset, and the unquestioning acceptance of the status quo in its current form, once enough does eventually become enough, and you finally get it into your head that things can change, the inevitable form of that change becomes a mirror image: yourself in the throne of oppressor, cracking the whip not only upon your former master, but also upon your former comrades (now, as ever, seen only as competition) for the simple reason that the throne exists, and must be filled, for why else should it exist, other than to seat a whipcracker?

"There's no law telling him to pay you, why are you even surprised? You expect him to do it out of the goodness of his heart? Of course not. And when I'm on top, I won't pay you either."

Gonna put this out there. Ended up in a thread on ML the other day. The poster/admin got a little unhinged, over 4 down votes. 4. Took to the admin panel to see who dared down vote him. Convinced he had been the victim of the tiniest not swarm ever.

It's troubling behavior for anyone with power.