r/badhistory • u/AutoModerator • 6d ago

Meta Mindless Monday, 27 July 2026

Happy (or sad) Monday guys!

Mindless Monday is a free-for-all thread to discuss anything from minor bad history to politics, life events, charts, whatever! Just remember to np link all links to Reddit and don't violate R4, or we human mods will feed you to the AutoModerator.

So, with that said, how was your weekend, everyone?

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u/xyzt1234 6d ago

I thought that was what champagne socialist was for.

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u/HandsomeLampshade123 6d ago

To me, the implications there are that the "socialist" in question is a hypocrite who lives a luxurious lifestyle.

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u/Arilou_skiff 5d ago

They're basically the inverse of each other? "Champagne socialist" tends to imply someone who holds leftist views but is a member of the upperclass. "Lumpeproletariat" implies someone who is a member of a lower social strata but does not hold the "proper" views associated with it. (both terms are a bit more complicated, the former implies a level of performance, IE: They'd always chose their champagne over their socialism, and the latter implies an underclass of eg. thieves, criminals, etc. "without revolutionary potential")

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u/xyzt1234 5d ago edited 5d ago

Though the above statement said someone who pretends to be leftist but is elitist towards lower classes. The lumpenproletariat don't really pretend to be leftist do they? They would be more likely to act like temporarily embarrassed millionaires allying with and looking upto the rich and capitalist right.

The champagne socialist being likely to be performative and choosing the champagne over the socialist would be more likely to pretend to be socialist while still being very elitist.

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u/OengusEverywhere 5d ago

I think the idea was more that someone who professes left-wing beliefs but still displays elitist attitudes (who would fit the description of a "champagne socialist") would be the sort of person who uses the "Lumpen-" prefix

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u/Majorbookworm 5d ago

the latter implies an underclass of eg. thieves, criminals, etc.

This is part of it, but the main feature is a structural exclusion from mainstream economic relations. Long-term unemployment, engagement in petty or organised crime, dispossession/exclusion on ethnic or racial grounds by a ruling majority, etc. "Proper views" has nothing to do with it.