Lemmy probably feels like Reddit when it first started, all warm cuddly and friendly to newcomers eager to discuss and collaborate around central topics.
I joined reddit on the tailwind, so it was all echo chamber, we hate newcomers, gatekeeping, automod frenzy, too many rulebreakers, too many rules, etc I could be wrong, but thats what I imagine it used to be like.
They are actually pretty nice with each other, IMO. They do make fun of liberals a lot, but one should take into account that only very recently did Hexbear start to federate with anyone (so they aren't as used to having all of them in their posts, I imagine), and with a community so politically different from the wave of Lemmy newcomers (the old communities I think would have met each other better), I think it's only understandable that there would be some not so nice interactions.
Strongly opinionated, and unwilling to elaborate or have actual discussion about their opinions, just insults and accusations towards any disagreement, and I get the sense that they do this out of principle.
It's always nice to remember that the communist yelling at me is really just a hilariously fragile person acting out from their position of extreme privilege.