What brought me here:
When breadtube became a thing around 2016 it was my refuge from the horrible reactionary shitshow the internet was at the time. It opened me to things further left than Obummer. I lurked on Reddits sorry excuses for leftist subs and heard them whisper about the CTH sub as being “bad leftists” but they never explained what was bad about them so I checked for myself and checked out the podcast and was like “They aren’t bad they’re just a bit obnoxious.” I didn’t really hang out on r/CTH, only saw the occasional post, and I listened to the podcast every now and again (and not at all anymore, stopped listening after the 2020 primaries) and that was about it. Then r/CTH was banned, this place was mentioned and I got curious. It felt like I had finally found a place that wasn’t going to demand I be civil towards Nazis. I wasn’t going to be banned for saying “kill all slave owners.” I also thought you guys were really funny. So yeah, Ironally r/CTH made you guys more appealing lmao. It also helped that you retained the “fuck being civil to horrible people” energy while at the same time attempting to make sure marginalised groups weren’t thrown under the bus.

What made me stay:
A community of weirdos that genuinely want to make the world a better place and stand up for their marginalised comrades. Whether it’s the mutual aid comm helping people the best it can, the news comm shining a light on events the world tries to bury, or simply the movie comm providing a safe fun area to chill, I feel like this place provides something other places on the internet don’t. It also is a place I feel like I can ask any questions about leftism and not be called an idiot. You guys taught me things ranging from practical stuff how to take part in my local org, to mundane things how to make a rad bean recipe. I think that’s worth something. Also I still think you guys are hilarious.

EDIT: added some more context because I was reminded of stuff I had forgotten.

  • Coca_Cola_but_Commie [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    14 days ago

    Where else is there to go?

    This site is a great mix of shitposting, news and general events analysis, and serious history and theory effortposting. If you’re a leftist, where else is there on the internet that’s like this?

    Without this place at best my connection to the left at all would be like a Monthly Review subscription, a Jacobin subscription, slowly working my way through marxists.org, and maybe occasionally reading whatever new releases from Verso looked interesting.