“Tankie” is a caricature. The idea of a tankie is the ideal vision of a McCarthyian Communist. In reality, the overwhelming majority of people labeled as such don’t actually fit that label, it’s more of a way to cast an image of someone’s positions based on, say, support for AES countries, and twist that into the evil Commie Pinko that haunts the dreams of 1960s children in the US.

No Communist wants to be seen as this caricature, they'd rather be seen as the Marxists they are, but those who use the term "Tankie" as though it has any meaning contribute to the demonization of Communists.

Additionally, nobody thinks the USSR was heaven on Earth, but real Socialism with real victories and real struggles. There are no "tankies" in any actual number worth considering if that's your definition.

[+] AWistfulNihilist@lemmy.world -3 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

[removed by mod]

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 6 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

I explained 1. Why painting the Communists and fascists in a similar light serves fascists wishing to trivialize genocide and 2. Why "tankie" doesn't mean anything except to serve as a pejorative for Marxist.

The "goalposts" never shifted.

[–] AWistfulNihilist@lemmy.world -2 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

Honestly the only difference between the quibbling you do with language and those blue maga weirdos on world is that you rep a different politics.

[–] Grapho@lemmy.ml 4 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Again you're twisting yourself up in a knot to try to fit reality into the neat little prejudice you decided is correct. If it turns out to be wrong, rather than change your view, you try another prejudice to see if that one fits.

[–] AWistfulNihilist@lemmy.world -2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Or maybe ya'll just mod off the word everyone calls you based on how you think and act online, for me it's asshole, for you it's tankies. Ya'll just hate the label but don't realize how much everyone has you clocked because of the small, highly censored, walled garden. ML is a tankie zoo.

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 4 points 3 hours ago

Yes, it's Lemmy.ml that is the walled garden despite being more broadly federated than Lemmy.world, who intentionally defederated from the explicitly Marxist instances.

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 6 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) (1 children)

Rather than trying to insult me, can you meaningfully explain why you disagree with me? Their comment suggested that Communists are in any way comparible in evil to the fascists that invented industrial mass murder, to the point that they wouldn't side with them against the fascists. I then went on to explain how I feel that the word "tankie" is just a pejorative used to dismiss Marxists, rather than getting a genuine response I just got further description of the caricature of a tankie.