Server rules
Below is a summary of rules you need to follow if you want to have an account on this server of Mastodon:
-
No bigotry or discrimination. It's on sight. If you're being a bigot ironically, you will be removed "ironically."
-
No sectarianism. If somebody makes a fool of themself, take issue with them and their position. Do not do the Ben Shapiro / Jesse Waters shtick where you fish for insignificant cranks to discredit broad movements. Friendly ribbing is OK.
-
Apply content warnings to any graphic nudity, drug use, gore (including of animals), suicide, sexual violence, hate crimes, slurs, etc. Allow people to opt-in to these discussions instead of forcing them to opt-out.
-
We do not reject violence on principle. Our adversaries will not be pacified by rhetoric. Be mindful about the legal implications of what you say though. Explicit threats against living people and organizations will be removed.
-
Be aware of the visibility and context of your posts. Mastodon is a federated network and different instances have different rules. If users from this instance regularly violate the rules of other instances, we will be de-federated.
-
Reactionaries are not welcome. Liberals will be made fun of until we grow bored.
-
Don't get arrested. Don't get me arrested. 😎
Among the Mastodon universe, I've noticed few distinct types of instances.
There are the "flagship" general-interest instances. It is the goal of these instance operators to keep political strife to a minimum (within reason) to make the instance as welcoming as possible to as many users as possible. These tend to be fairly good about removing outright Nazis and hate speech, but politics is often treated as a potentially triggering subject (fair enough). In short, they are run by Liberals. They will embrace calls for solidarity, inclusion, and emancipation insofar as it doesn't undermine the established Liberal institutions. Anything going further seems to stand on shaky ground.
There are the special interest instances. Instances focused on subjects from comics to electronics to cooking to LGBTQIA+ and issues of intersectional oppression. I assume many of the operators and members of these instances would like to, more or less, remain out of the fray and focus on these interests. There is a reason their members chose these spaces instead of more mainstream or more explicitly political ones. While many of them may be operated or used by comrades, they don't seem like the correct place to go and talk about Communism 24/7 unless you have a credible reputation in that community.
Finally, there are the anti-capitalist instances. These instances are primarily focused on politics, and they are on the correct side of the defining struggle of our epoch - however - among them there is a disappointing amount of sectarianism. I will always assume the best of my comrades, but none of these places (at least the ones with open registration) seem like a good fit for me or many of my comrades from Hexbear.
So my goal here is to establish an anti-sectarian instance along the lines of Hexbear where Anarchists and Marxists are welcome. A space where the focus remains eternally on our leviathan enemy, bourgeois class society, the greatest existential threat to humanity and the planet. A place where a full spectrum of anti-capitalist tactics and theoretical perspectives can be entertained in good faith.