Universal Monk @ UniversalMonk @sh.itjust.works

Notorious Lemmy outlaw. Writer of stuff like **Booty Sweat Jesus and the Ho

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Posts

709

Comments

814

Joined

9 mo. ago

Moderating

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Good for you, brother! Stay strong. I've stayed drug-free/alcohol free my entire life, but only because I've watched loved ones go thru addiction, so I realize how tough it is. The fact that you got out of it after so long, is a major accomplishment. Good on ya, mate.

Addiction is not a joke people.

This is why I hate to see how casual Lemmy is about drugs and alcohol. Some actually brag about posing while high or drunk--and then get a shitton of upvotes for it. They don't realize how quick it happens. and how addiction doesn't care who you are. It can happen to anyone.

Great post!

Greed has altered the course of life many times over.

I continually fight this myself. I made a fair amount of profit in crypto, but I 100 percent realize that it's just blind luck. I like the idea of it and I love the news about it, so it's very difficult for me to not to go 100 percent in every time I see a trend!

So far, I've resisted the urge to go to crazy with it, but ugh, it's tough . And I lie to my gf and tell her that I just follow, but don't invest. So I'm pretty much the kind of asshole that I grew up despising. lol

I've never invested more than I can afford to lose, and cash out the minute I make a little profit. But I can see how addicting it is and how easily some people could fall off the cliff.

Good points!

Could just be sincere disagreement and I’m chasing ghosts, but I’ve seen some stuff that looks REAL fishy.

Agreed. But another problem is that some people think anyone who disagrees with them is a troll.

Just today, I got banned from two communities. The reason? According to the mod: “known zero-sum narcissistic troll/spam user.” Which is wild, because I’ve barely posted in either place. I never said anything political or controversial as far as I can tell—and none of my comments were even removed.

And I think the last time I posted there was a few weeks ago?! LMAO.

The only thing I can figure is that some mod or admin saw me posting elsewhere, remembered they hated me for being a Socialist, and made up a reason to ban me. Totally random. Totally ok, their community. Their rules. Just like my community, my rules (as in I ban serial downoters).

No real loss—I rarely comment there anyway, and apparently nothing I said was bad enough to delete. Still, banned.

Lemmy’s a strange place. The echo-chamber mentality might be what kills it in the end though. If it turns into Reddit 2.0, what’s the point? And I am adding to the echo chamber by banning serial downvoters. So, meh...

I love Lemmy, but I can totally see it withering if it becomes harder to navigate and more toxic than Reddit. That said, I refuse to be bullied off the platform. I’ll be here until the servers go dark.

But I'm on PieFed, and really loving that platform too. So no big loss if Lemmy goes away, because I'm already on the Lemmy replacement. :)

What’s also funny is that now that people are finally talking about “serial downvoters” being a problem—and now that more users can actually see who’s doing the downvoting—a lot of those serial downvoters have suddenly stopped.

Personally, I’ve noticed a huge difference. For a long time, it didn’t matter what I posted—no matter the subject, I’d get flooded with downvotes almost instantly. That’s just stopped.

Now the voting feels way more natural and organic—based on content, not just someone hating me and hitting downvote the second they see my name.

Yeah, I feel the same. So sad that they are so obsessive that they let things like posting on Lemmy take over their lives. I'll never understand people like that. It's just Lemmy and none of this is real life. lol

Wondering if this is personal grudge

Definitely a personal grudge. It was against someone who the downvoter was convinced is an alt of mine (it's not).

Several months ago, I mentioned how weird it was for someone to have an ai girlfriend in general, not calling anyone out directly. One particular dude stalked me for months over that comment, and serial downvoted everything I did.

Then he put his sights on someone else (the subject of the scenario in OP's example), wrongly thinking it was me, and started stalking and harassing them, and calling them my name. Literally saying, "I know you're Universal Monk!" Over and over. Again, the person he thought was an alt of me, isn't me. I don't have any alt names. I just use my Universal Monk name on any instance I use.

As soon as it was mentioned that the serial downvoter guy may be involved in sending the Nicole fediverse chick spam (many of the same addys, obsession, etc), the downvoter deleted his account.

I have no idea if he was involved in the nicole spam, but the M.O. of revenge and obsession definitely fit the profile for both the incidents. Also pretty suspicious that the minute someone mentioned he may be involved in Nicole spam, he bailed and deleted his main account and a lot of his alt accounts. lol

Still feeling good about that whole both-sides thing?

Yep. I'm totally glad I voted Socialist Workers Party in the election, and I would gladly vote for them again. And I'll vote for them in the next election too.

I asked you like a year ago if you’d eat crow this year when the situation in Gaza got a lot worse – would you like some mayo with that?

And I said "no" because there's no crow for me to eat. I said I was gonna vote socialist party then, I did vote socialist party, and I am glad I did.

I have always advocated third-party voting, and will continue to do so because I think the Democrats and the Republics BOTH suck.

And you (and many others) also said I would disappear after the election because you all thought I was a russian spy. Yet, here I am. Still posting. Happy with my decision.

You didn't change my mind, and you didn't bully me into leaving. And you didn't get rid of me.

And I still think that both parties suck.

Thanks, friend! :)

Yet again, you come on here to talk about how much you hate Lemmy.world. Yet you keep on posting shit to lemmy.world.

Dude, just stay away from it if you hate it that much.

I'm gonna say YDI because you know they don't like you there, but you keep posting to try to stir up shit so you can come here and point fingers.

And PTB because they are known assholes.

Community college is cheaper than traditional universities here and often used as a stepping stone to a four-year degree. A two-year degree is called an associate’s degree. Many students get their associate’s at a community college, then transfer to a university to finish a bachelor’s.

For example, if the University of Colorado costs $700 per credit hour, but a community college is only $200, I could do my first two years at the cheaper school, knock out the basic courses, then transfer and only pay the higher rate for the final two years. In the end, I’d have an associate’s from Pikes Peak Community College and a bachelor’s from the University of Colorado—saving thousands.

So yeah, community college is more affordable, but it still costs money. If we made community colleges free, students could save even more.

And you can get associates degree in things like Mathematics, English, Biology, etc. I got my associates degree in business at a community college, then transferred all of my college credits to another college and I'm currently finishing my bachelor's degree.

But neither Republicans nor Democrats seem interested in making college free, which is why I voted third party (Socialist) in the last election.

And that's also why Lemmy thinks I'm a troll--they're really mad I didn't vote for the current duopoly system. LMAO No regrets. :)

What country are you in where college is paid for?

Thanks for the insight. College should absolutely be free and I'm disappointed, but not surprised, that both of our main political parties continue to avoid making it happen.

Governor Hochul emphasized that many working-age adults are stuck in low-wage jobs or industries with no growth. “This is about second chances and stronger futures,” Hochul said. “We’re giving adults the chance to upskill without going into debt—and helping employers fill critical shortages.”

Every state needs this attitude.

As long as using light dumbells, I'd think that would work. Just gotta go light and slow so as to not cause injury.

Ok? Is that really something ya wanna brag about though? lol

all the censorship proves that the only true difference between liberals and maga is the kool aide flavor.

Yep, and Lemmy hates the "both sides suck" statement, even tho it's true. Lemmy likes to mock it by typing it like,"bOtH SiDeZ."

But the the main parties here are both sides of the same coin. The duopoly is what keeps us stuck. And why I voted third party.

Thankfully Lemmy is finally starting to be a little more open-minded about third parties, because capitalists have destroyed both the main parties.

But back to the main subject, I think the preemptive ban is just gonna start being a thing unless the feature gets removed. I'm seeing it more and more every single day.

Lemmys are just gonna end up preemptive banning everyone who disagrees with them, and we'll fall into a mini-echochamber coma. lol

As far as I know, genetic preconditions play a major role in becoming world-class in more or less any sport.

Very good point and I agree with that! I just finished reading a book that lays out a very good argument for that: "The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance."

Great book if you get a chance to read it.

We actually have good admins here, but the automod can be a bit overactive at times. If it's just the automod, that's one thing. If actual mods are behind it, that’s a whole different issue.

I looked more into what happened with me. Turns out, some third-party apps people use with Lemmy let them preemptively ban users from their communities that they mod.

It was meant to stop trolls, but now everyone’s calling anyone they disagree with a troll. So we’re heading toward a situation where people are just banning each other over nothing.

I've even been called a troll for posting in communities I created and moderate. It’s no longer “you don’t like what I like and that’s fine,” it’s “you don’t like what I like, so you’re a troll!”

I’ve been banned from communities I’ve never visited or even heard of. It’s not a big deal since I wasn’t going there anyway, but some users dig up ban histories and use them as ammo in arguments.

Trust me, I have personal experience with this. Someone started an entire thread about me called "I'm Calling For the Fediverse to Ban UniversalMonk" (https://sh.itjust.works/post/3101725) Or just search for the title if link doesn't work.

Hundreds of upvotes and comments on that thread. All about me. And why? Because I voted third party (Socialist Workers Party) in the presidential election. So of course, I must be a russian spy paid by Trump using "russian bitcoin," all paid out to me just so I could vote for the Socialist party. The person who started that post, and all the people who agreed with them, wanted me gone from all of Lemmy because I didn't vote democrat or republican. LMAO

And I am still being preemptive banned from communities because of that. lol

Honestly, Lemmy’s starting to feel more pro-censorship than Reddit.

I personally think that sh.itjust.works and lemmy.dbzer0 are the best instances on Lemmy, have the best admins on Lemmy, and seem to stand up against the bullies more than anyone else.

Disclaimer: I've personally used the preemptive ban against two individuals who have harrassed me and called me a troll for months on end.

Good question.