I remember once building a nice charity program that would make meals for homeless people. I had deluded myself into thinking I was building some kind of revolution or whatever.
I had a book club where we all read theory, and it basically was just a tacked on addition to the food charity.
It was really stupid, but it also broke my heart when a guy deliberately sabotaged it because I was a tankie. It was set up in a very level way where we all basically took turns being the coordinator. He intentionally did nothing and told everyone that each role for that week (driver, cook, etc) was filled. Then when the day for distribution came he laughed about how it wasn’t going to happen.
I had to buy like 10 pizzas that day, and I remember not having internet because those pizzas were my bill money. The group kept functioning for a while until it fizzled out, but not because of him.
Most people of all political leanings were willing to help me with my stupid idea, but not that guy. I think about that a lot.
Mutual aide is not really the issue with tankies, the problem is the authoritarianism. Mutual aide can be very effective when done properly. For example, anarchists tend to answer the question of “leeches” by giving them the resources to self-actualize, and if the “leech” does not care to do that, they can be kicked out of an anarchist community.
Maybe those are problems with the ideology, but its not with the people who believe it. I’ve met a lot of people who have very incoherent beliefs. Nobody bullied them and so they absorbed the sane beliefs of the group.
I really just don’t think exclusion or hostility are useful unless people are dangerous. A Nazi makes Jewish and gay members of a group scared. A tankie really doesn’t because 90% of the time they’re gay or trans.
Then I haven’t even gotten to how a lot of people join extremist ideologies because they are lonely and need friends. So when you combine that with how small scale local activism is, kicking safe useful people out of a group is just abusing the socially inept.
I am a queer person, and I am scared of tankies because they support the creation of an authoritarian state which is fundamentally incompatible with the ideas queer liberation and self-determination.
I’m all for communism. Every day is a new day for me to witness and live the horrors of capitalism. Hell, I got laid off a couple months ago and I may be facing homelessness soon. I could go on a tangent here but it’s very clear to me that we need a different system soon. But I don’t want to build a “fiscally leftists, socially conservative” society. I want it all left.
It’s not just that, they support existing regimes that are known to be queerphobic. China is having its own trans panic right now, and their government is contributing to it, so when people support states like that it’s not just that they don’t support queer liberation, but it seems like they specifically want queer people gone entirely. It seems like they agree with fascists when it comes to queer people.
Named after a literal weapon of war, that serve no function except to kill people. It doesn’t till fields for crops to feed people, it doesn’t really even serve as a transport except for transporting it’s own crew to whoever they are going to shoot or crush
And then the whining: “How come you don’t feel safe around us???”
Gee I don’t know
A tankie really doesn’t because 90% of the time they’re gay or trans.
citation needed
And then the bus driver clapped.
I don’t know what tankies are, and at this point, I’m afraid to ask.
Fascists with red and gold aesthetic.
Known for their unshakable support of Russia and China.
A particular part of communist who fully support sending the tanks to suppress their pears just because they think differently. They worship Stalin, Mao and other monsters just because they used the banner of communists.
As you might expect, a lot communists don’t like them.
So does this include all Communists or just authoritarian communism? aka red fash
Noone except some liberals refer to non-authoritarian communists as tankies, and even then when they do that they know they’re being misleading
Thanks for clarifying.
“tankie” refers only to the latter I think
Hard to tell bc so many people on Lemmy use “Tankie” as “anyone to the left of me”
well, when you have activity on a community called “moretankie196” , you can see why people might be suspicious yeah?
For what?
For idolizing the soviet union and the people’s republic of china, who have done some very evil things. Tankies always try to undermine the sins of authoritarian regimes. They keep trying to instate authoritarian regimes knowing full well that they have killed so many historically.
If you want truly based leftism, try anarchism.
List me some of the atrocities you talk about.
Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin: Stalin’s rule was characterized by forced collectivization, which resulted in widespread famine and the death of millions of people, particularly during the Ukrainian Holodomor. Stalin’s purges led to the imprisonment, execution, or exile of millions, including members of the Communist Party, military officials, intellectuals, and perceived political opponents.
The Great Leap Forward in China: Under Mao Zedong’s leadership, the Great Leap Forward aimed to rapidly transform China’s economy and society. However, the policies implemented, such as forced collectivization and the backyard steel furnaces, resulted in a disastrous famine, leading to the deaths of an estimated 20 to 45 million people between 1958 and 1962.
Cultural Revolution in China: The Cultural Revolution, initiated by Mao Zedong, aimed to reassert his authority and eliminate perceived enemies within the Communist Party and society. The movement led to widespread political persecution, purges, and violence, resulting in millions of deaths, as well as the destruction of cultural heritage, academic institutions, and economic disruption.
Khmer Rouge in Cambodia: The Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. During their regime, they implemented radical agrarian communism, forcing urban dwellers into rural work camps and carrying out mass executions, torture, and forced labor. It is estimated that between 1.7 to 2.2 million people died as a result of execution, starvation, and disease.
North Korea under Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il: The oppressive regime in North Korea has been associated with widespread human rights abuses, political repression, forced labor camps, and the suppression of dissent. The regime’s policies have resulted in severe food shortages and famine, leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.
I’ve created no authoritarian regimes by giving food to homeless people. It was basically just unpaid charity work covered in red paint.
People’s ideas are fluid anyway. I made a lot of leftists into tankies by just being nice and tolerant. I’ve seen tankies become anarchists because they’re surrounded by them. I never succeeded at anything, and neither did they sadly. I wish they had. It was really nice helping eachother. I’ve never had so many friends. We should all become activists because it gives us so many friends.
It was really nice and I wish more people were like that online. In real life that’s how it is.
Maybe you’ve also absorbed your beliefs from people around you, maybe not. I’d recommend you read this essay by comrade ziq, give it a thought factcheck it if you want to. I find standing in support of the states or atleast the supposed ideologies of the states that have done terrible things (that at least don’t fit in my ideology of tolerance) to among others, queer people and other leftists, very distasteful and repulsive. It’s not that we say “fuck tankies” for giving food to homeless people, that’s not an uniquely tankie thing. It’s the tanks yall.
I’d rather just be nice to people. I’m not going to go around and find an excuse not to associate with people unless they’re dangerous or counter productive. Tankies like me are neither when it comes to any kind of activism. You could make a case for not letting their organizations help you if your values don’t align with them. However there is really no reason to exclude good faith participation of every single individual in that group.
I’d really just say that after a long time of thinking it over a harmonious existence is better than one where everyone around me is correct.
Well, many people don’t want to be around people with terrible opinions. You could make the same arguments as someone from the far right.
I’d rather just be nice to people.
You could start by not labeling yourself after a weapon of war who’s sole and only purpose is to kill humans.
Because they want to bully someone, and tankies are acceptable. It’s not any different from the tankies that kick people out of their book clubs for not worshipping a dictator from a country they’ve never even been in.
People only argue on the internet because they want to scream at someone - anyone.
I refuse to argue politics with people. It’s better to ask a tankie “will you help me with my project?” They’ll either say yes or reveal that they’re a bully too.
Because they want to bully someone, and tankies are acceptable.
Nah, Trump morons and other fash are the go-to for that and there’s certainly no shortage of those morons. Kinda funny how you all started sharing the same exact propaganda at some point, though. Funny that. I’m sure there’s no insight to be made there.
