I get my dissenting opinions simply by existing in the society in which I exist. The hexbear "echo chamber" as you put it is small and powerless. This place is a tiny refuge, a brief respite from all the shitiness I see in my day to day life.

Hexbear isn't an "echo chamber" in the same way the republican media circuit is, because we have to leave it. Republicans never do. They can read articles and watch talking heads and never once be challenged on their beliefs. As a communist, I'm challenged on my beliefs every single day. Most articles I read and most talking heads I watch disagree with me.

We respond to lost libs like you for a few reasons. One is maybe we'll change a mind, not necessarily yours but perhaps a lurker reading the conversation. Another is entertainment. It's really funny when someone wanders in here and is the living embodiment of the memeing we do. Sometimes we want an argument, usually because we're having a shitty day and just want to be an asshole on the Internet. This isn't a good motivation and I wish it didn't happen, but it does. None of us is immune.

You're getting responses not because we're unused to being challenged, but because we want to respond to you for whatever reason. My response here is explaining our inner workings so hopefully you can come away from this thread seeing us as people with ideas that we believe. We haven't been tricked into thinking as we do, most of us go against the grain of our societies to come to our beliefs. I want to change a mind today, ideally yours, and I've chosen a gentle tone full of candor to try to do so. Will it be effective? I have no way of knowing, but I hope so. Please realize we're not bots or russian agents or trapped in a cult or whatever, we're humans with thoughts and experiences that have led us to our beliefs.