this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2023
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I've seen "Tankie" pulled out on Lemmy and Reddit over things like:
Suggesting a revolution is required to stop global capitalism, and that we cannot vote our way out of Capitalism
Countering common narratives that paint US Geopolitical Adversaries and Existing Socialist/Communist regimes as comically evil villains.
Criticizing the western perspective on the Russia/Ukraine conflict, and by extension criticism of Ukraine, or praise for Russia
Suggesting that violence against Nazis is ok
I mostly get the impression that people don't like violence, and dislike the idea that capitalism may need to be opposed through violence. Though I've also seen it thrown out at suggestions that capitalism should even be defeated at all. It feels like a poison tbh, we really should just be uniting against capitalism.
so tankie is just a nonsense word?
It can be misused, but it properly means supporting authoritarian 'communism'. I usually see it on hexbear, where they often say Russia China and North Korea are vastly better than western countries.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tankie
Nonsense catch-all word to put down Marxist-Leninists, and any leftist seriously advocating for revolution.
It means authoritarian socialist, more specifically those who support Stalinist ideals
I've seen tankies making strawmen out of things like:
People who don't think ML strategies are a good idea for global revolution.
Recognizing that the US, Russia, and China are all fallible. Not equally bad, but comparably flawed.
Believing Zelenskyy is like Churchill in both the flattering and unflattering ways, while no amount of Azov Nazis justify Russia's brutal invasion.
Ignorant liberals representing all left leaning opposition.
I get the impression that you want to paint serious objections and disagreements by genuine leftists as either factionalism that must be silenced, or a plot by capitalists to stop redistribution. Tankies are real, terrible, and willing to defend or perpetuate almost any crime against humanity if they have faith it will contribute to the greater good.