Hexbear is back? What's the lore? : fediverselore

[–] [email protected] 48 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

The issue was that the domain expired and the original user that set up the domain was MIA... but according to this like a month later the admin awoke from hiberation 🐻 and managed to restore the domain (it was enough of a grace period from the registrar to bypass the auction) and give the current admins shared access.

There were some ongoing server issues beyond that but as far as I know the issue appears resolved. Lemmy.ca is not federated with them so that's about as far as I'll look into it.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago

Thanks! The link is helpful.

Look like they got the domain back a while ago. Wonder why federation took so long.

[+] [email protected] 44 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (2 children)

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

What a dork. Glad my instance is defederated from that hot mess

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Jesus Christ. They're really convinced that everyone is as invested in their bullshit as they are. Like, completely and sincerely convinced.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

It's the only foothold of propaganda the CCP has in the fediverse, so they aren't going away without a fight

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

Hey, grad and ml still exist.

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[–] [email protected] 33 points 4 weeks ago

So first, fans of an actually quite good (as I understand) leftist podcast got together on Reddit and started talking to one another.

The dark forces that are at work on the modern internet can’t have something like that, so they invested a pretty tiny amount of resources into sidetracking the whole thing into pettiness, vicious bad-spirited trolling, and slavish adherence to the stupidest and hot-button-est of hot-button leftism issues available. Because of Reddit’s unique combination of anonymity plus unchecked power for the (also anonymous) mods, it worked perfectly, and the whole place became a loud and hostile waste of time.

Still in waste-of-time form, the whole thing migrated over to Lemmy when Lemmy became available. It sits there festering, fueled by a combination of deliberate distortion by people who hate the left, people who just like having a community and stick around (avoiding the “bad” parts and politics), and people with some degree of mental illness who genuinely think Russia is good, attacking anyone who isn’t performatively left to the point of caricature is productive, and it’s everyone else who is the problem.

Because, by this point, the only people around are fairly dysfunctional, they had some kind of falling-out with the person who had paid for their web hosting, who for the same reason had chosen a corrupt registrar, who tried to extort them for thousands of dollars. They refused, the registrar presumably abandoned the effort when whatever counter-troll had bid the price up didn’t bother to buy it at the wildly inflated price it landed at, and they got back the original domain and restarted as if nothing had happened.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

.ml has some competition again

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

https://files.catbox.moe/spkqhx.gif

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[+] [email protected] 29 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (7 children)

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I'm sure they're pleasant towards you, but the way they act when someone dares to disagree with them is repugnant.

[+] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (7 children)

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

And anyone who disagrees with them will certainly have at least one of those labels thrown at them.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Some Hexbear people were talking excitedly about advocating for Claudia de la Cruz. I pointed out that if Trump wins, they might go into concentration camps (And look! That is happening, some prominent leftists have already been disappeared).

A tide of people pretended that I had said I would be happy about leftists going into concentration camps (I am not), sent me pig ballsacks, threatened me with death, threatened me with being stabbed with an icepick, sent me insults, agreed with each other about what a piece of shit I was, sent me custom-crafted memes to emphasize how much they didn't care what I thought, and one person seemed like they wanted to have a factual conversation about it (they made some accusations about what reality was that were at least subject enough to proof or disproof to be worth discussing). I decided to try talking about it a little and it went about like you would think.

I'm clearly not a bigot, racist, or et cetera any of those things. Hexbear operates under a sort of "no true scotsman" logic by which anyone who they disagree with is automatically one or all of those things, and so it's okay to be horrible to anyone they disagree with. Again, that's why they are widely defederated.

Here's the thread, including both my unwarranted smugness and Hexbear's predictable reaction which has nothing to do with anti-bigotry (and, in fact, has played some small role in enabling the worsening of bigotry and genocide, now that Trump is in office): https://ponder.cat/post/525489/763331

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

What's the hexbear take on the invasion of Ukraine? Genuinely asking you as someone who's from there.

[+] [email protected] 16 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 3 weeks ago (6 children)

I also think NATO is a tool of capitalist oppression,

Yeah, that's the take I was expecting to see. A mutual defence pact, formed to protect against the very thing Ukraine is experiencing, is a tool of oppression.

Who is NATO opressing, exactly?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (3 children)

You can think of NATO as a millitary pact of gangsters. The members of NATO make the bulk of their wealth through fleecing the Global South, through processes of Unequal Exchange and brutal IMF loans that come with clauses requiring them to sell off nationalized infrastructure and resources. NATO's role, other than Anti-Communism, is to essentially form "Big Stick Diplomacy" with countries that do not immediately play ball with their terms.

We can see this in Operation Gladio, as an example. Even ignoring the fact that several heads of NATO have been former Nazis, such as Adolf Heusinger, Leftists have opposed NATO for its role in defending US and EU Imperialism since its foundation. You can see that in modern Communist orgs like PSL's statement on the Russo-Ukrainian War, or FRSO's Statement on NATO.

That should give a background on why the Left generally opposes US millitary dominance over the world, and NATO's role in that. If it's hard to grasp, look at the ACAB movement. Why do people oppose a group that, on paper, is for "defending the people?" Because in reality, it defends a brutally exploitative system over all else, and thus racist and classist violence is a systemic part of that "defense."

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Riiiight. Sure.

Nothing to do with the fact that pretty much every country that borders Russia has been invaded by them.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Not sure which part of my comment you're disagreeing with, so not sure how to respond. I included statements from Communist orgs directly, not Hexbear, so you could see that this is fairly universal among the anticapitalist left.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

You genuinely don't think Russia is a threat to its neighbours, do you?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I think the fact that the Russian Capitalists (also called "Oligarchs") control Russia's industry, rather than the US and Europe like they did right after the dissolution of the USSR, has resulted in NATO buildup along Russia's border, just like back during the Soviet era when NATO put the Jupiter missiles in Turkey, nuclear arms, and extended a NATO base beyond West Germany's border and into East Germany, both of which prompted Operation Anadyr which led to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Those same Jupiter missiles, Kruschev would convince Kennedy to remove alongside Cuba removing their nukes, in an equal exchange of disarmament.

I absolutely believe Russia is a threat to those around them, sure, in the sense that all countries could be if a much larger power started massive millitary expansion along their borders. I don't think there is anything unique about Russians ethnically that would cause them to go to war, but that there are relatively explainable factors.

Which of my original comment did you disagree with? The purpose of NATO? The Imperialism practiced by NATO countries? The ties to the Nazi party? All of it? It would help if you explained a bit, because as it stands I made a pretty thorough comment and you sort of just brushed it all aside, which is difficult to maintain a discussion around.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago (40 children)

I think the umbrage most people take is when that opposition to NATO turns into Russian apologism. Like you said yourself, it's a country owned and operated by capitalists waging wars against other capitalist interests. The conversation can end there, fuck both of them.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 weeks ago

IDK, I used to talk up certain parts of Hexbear (art@hexbear seemed quite good) but your perception of their political views is not what I've observed. I tried to talk with them and they more or less instantly threatened me with physical violence and then defederated my instance.

There is a reason they are so widely defederated. They are deliberately obnoxious to "outsiders" in a way that makes it seem unlikely that they're positioned to succeed at any kind of leftist progress. Usually, attacking everyone around you is not correlated to long-term victory.

I see people say stuff all the time like oh they are tankies who love putin, oh they are against human rights.

https://hexbear.net/search?q=putin&type=Comments&listingType=All&page=1&sort=New

They're not really "against human rights" per se, as far as I can tell, but at least 50% of them seem to be fanboys for authoritarian regimes, and construct insane frameworks where those regimes aren't actually violating anyone's human rights, or "but 'libs' believe X Y and Z, those are wrong, and so by contrast with those wrong things, I must be right." I think more than 50% of the comments in the above link fall into that latter pattern.

Here are some examples of things from the above that are pro-Putin (or at least pro-Putin-adjacent) and also hilariously wrong:

They'll say this then unironically say that Putin just invaded Ukraine to be mean

Putin is genuinely popular and his party is bolstered by the fact that both the economy and the Ukraine conflict are going well.

Describing United Russia as far right is also not entirely accurate, it's more like a catchall for anyone who is not a communist and not a western stooge. It includes some very right wing and nationalistic elements, but they are generally quite careful to marginalize those kinds of far right elements that would be destabilizing for the Russian state:

Ethno-nationalists who would create conflict and friction with Russia's many ethnic minorities, outright Nazis many of whom defected and now fight for Ukraine in Nazi units like the "Russian Volunteer Battalion", etc.

(That is a hilarious juxtaposition)

It is also one of the most consistently and prolifically vilified countries, due to decades of Cold War propaganda, both during the height of the Cold War and after the USSR's fall. It is not surprising then that some people would have a hard time wrapping their head around it as neither hero nor villain and as part of a complex dynamic on the world stage, with an even more complex history, grappling with challenging material conditions throughout. But embracing that complexity is an important exercise in getting used to viewing the world beyond the binary lens of good and evil that anti-communist propaganda loves to do.

Got it. (And actually I agree that "good" and "bad" are very poor frameworks for judging state actors from the POV of the individual.) So what do you think of Ukraine? "Pure evil, Nazi government, why do you ask?"

Zelensky knows that Putin is basically a moderate and is hoping for a hardliner to take power afterwards, eternal conflict is the only way to preserve his position and prevent nazi elements from merking him

IDK. I looked over Hexbear for a while after what you said, and as long as you steer clear of certain topics, I think I can agree with you. (And, that was my experience before the defederation.) The same can be said of most Republican uncles at Thanksgiving, though, so it's not really a solid endorsement of their good nature.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Sorry I should have clarified: not looking for Hexbear lore in general. I have seen a lot of Hexbear content, so I have a solid understanding on the site and the users. Don't want to start a debate about that here because that debate always turn nasty.

What I am looking for is: what happened in the past month-ish? How did you all lost your domain? How and when did you get it back? Why did it take so long for federation to be back? Is there any other change made to the site during this downtime?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago

The news section there is great, and while there are a few comments that echo Russian stuff, that is easier to ignore than the massive USA liberal (conservative) views that dominate some other communities.

In particular I like the middle east coverage .

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

The admins got it back quite a while ago, the last bit of time has been ensuring smooth federation and using it as an opportunity to poll whether refederation was even what everyone wanted, as well as which style of federation (block list vs allow list, or none at all). Things are smoother now!

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Did they end up choosing block list or allow list? I hope it was the former. Allowlist will exclude small instances and harm federation diversity.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 weeks ago

They went with allow list as it used to be

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 weeks ago

good to see them back tbh, it's nice to have lots of people around.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

I'm glad they're back, people should be exposed to viewpoints outside their bubble by default. If your instance defeds from them, you are delegating your choice and freedom instead of owning it yourself.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 3 weeks ago

I'm on an instance that defeded hex, and I've got an alt on an instance that didn't. Literally nothing lost. The reason loads of instances defeded hex was their habit of brigading. Loads of bad faith arguments, shit talking people....even when they were agreeing with the points being made. Having seen what their contributions to the fed are, I'm glad to have a little less noise. Happy to discuss with people who have different views, but they don't tend to discuss, they are the equivalent of that one person that talks at you, not with you....

[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

you know, normally I'd agree with your point, but not when the offending parties are actually deliberately disruptive jackasses whenever they show up. Hexbear is insufferable. that's not a critique of their viewpoint, that's a critique of their behavior. If you come into the sandbox and kick sand in other kids eyes on the regular, don't be surprised when nobody wants to play with you. It's a lesson you, they, and most others should've learned before middle school, and it has nothing to do with what political ideology they follow.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Thank you for reminding me how hilarious that was!

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

First question that comes to mind is: did they get it back, or did someone else snatch it from them and also made it a Lemmy instance? Like, one of the conservative comms (forgot which instance; world or ee?) had the mods banned and a new mod took over and turned it into a satirical circle jerk thing where it's making fun of conservatives/conservative memes.

Edit: No... It does look like the OG. So it's not that.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago

That sounds more likely to be world.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

The lore is that simpleton centrists always want everyone included, even if they're Nazis that have zero good intentions. So they are allowed back to slowly erode the decent parts of Lemmy into another white supremacy chamber.

Don't bother replying I'm not interested in arguing on this point. I have zero tolerance for Hexbear.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (4 children)

That whole domain lost thing only lasted for a week or so and then they got it back. I don't know how they did it, maybe it was still on hold. The registrar seemed a bit shady to me... But they were back online a few days after that incident.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Please tell me .world will remain defederated from them…

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