Well, luckily, you can make an account elsewhere and not have people assume you're an asshole because you associate (unknowingly) with assholes

I did the same, but I never had any negative interactions on .ml tho. The folks over on Hexbear are a different kind of strange, but harmless in the end, and of course you regularly read bullshit on all instances, but it's just different tastes of shit, the ammount stays the same. After I switched from Reddit to Lemmy I started to encounter such a plethora of different opinions, it's insane! :D If the deal is that from time to time I have to tolerate some idiot picking a fight about communism or Russia or Gaza or China etc., I gladly accept. One Thing you really have to give too all the tankies is that (on average) they are far more likely to cite sources for their claims. Do they do it so you can learn, or to smugly proof a point? I don't care

This is one of the downsides to Lemmy, you're expected to understand what the hell an instance is before you even use the platform.