this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2023
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Tankiejerk

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Dunking on Tankies from a leftist perspective.

A tankie is someone who defends/supports authoritarian or even totalitarian regimes who call themselves "socialist". The term originated from people supporting the 1956 invasion of Hungary by the Soviet Union. Nowadays they are just terminally online, denying genocides, and falling for totalitarian propaganda and calling such regimes "true democracies". remember to censor usernames when necessary.

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Image Transcription:

An 8-panel Phoebe Teaching Joey meme.

The first panel is Phoebe from Friends saying "Russia".

The second panel is Joey from the same show replying with "Russia".

The third panel is Phoebe saying "has invaded".

The fourth panel is Joey repeating back "has invaded".

The fifth panel is Phoebe saying "Ukraine".

The sixth panel is Joey repeating back "Ukraine".

The seventh panel is Phoebe saying the completed phrase "Russia has invaded Ukraine".

The final panel shows Joey proudly proclaiming "NATO just started a proxy war".

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (19 children)

The political spectrum isn't really a line. Please don't imply leftists and tankies are on the same team

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (18 children)

You can ignore everything I'm about to write. I'm just thinking through this in written form.

Here goes: it's a bit confusing for me. Tankies call themselves leftists. In fact, they call us "pro-capitalists" because we don't believe in authoritarianism.

And it feels weird to me to be in one of two groups both saying, "you're not REAL anti-capitalists" at each other.

So here goes:

  • the Nazis weren't nationalist socialists
  • the USSR wasn't a republic controlled by worker Soviets
    • In fact, the use of tanks on Hungarian worker Soviets was what gave tankies their name. They were actually anti Soviet.
  • the Democratic Republic of North Korea isn't democratic
  • the People's Republic of China does not belong to its people
  • Moms for Liberty doesn't want liberty (and is filled with numerous people who aren't even moms)
  • a majority membership of the National Black Republican Organization is white

So yes, I must acknowledge that a group of pro-authoritarians can call themselves leftists without being leftists.

... it still feels weird though. Because if you view it from their perspective, they are leftists. And we are capitalists' enablers.

Wait! I think I see it. Their embrace of violent regimes and violent tactics destroys working class unity and alienates non-violent, compassionate anti-capitalists. They actively choose Stalin over Trotsky and Trotsky over Kerensky, and (like they did with Marguerit Duras) drive anyone out of the movement who won't support that choice.

They are anti-solidarity. And you cannot be a leftist and be anti-solidarity.

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