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WereHacker@lemmy.ml 8 hours agoThat is a pretty vague definition, and that is probably what irks me about the term. It can be used as a slur for anything you don’t like. Like “woke” for conservatives. I switched home when I found out .world blocks instances they don’t like. Lemmy.ml seemed the to be the broadest, left accepting instance and they block out porn by default, win-win in my book. Infact I like the fact that I can be an anti-imperialist in places like hexbear, without being called a tankie. Being against killing school children does not mean I support the iranian goverment. I hope you take this answer in good faith. It is written in honesty.
wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 7 hours ago
It’s not that vague if you’ve ever encountered one in the wild. You would know exactly what it’s referring to. And it’s nothing like conservatives using “woke.” They use “woke” to describe anything mildly progressive. Tankies aren’t progressives, they’re accelerationist armchair militants. They call democratic socialists fascists.
Even if your opinion aligns with them on most things, it doesn’t automatically make you a tankie. If you’re not an auth-comm intent on bullying everyone who disagrees with you the slightest bit and labeling all nuance and critical reasoning as capitalist imperialist propaganda, then you’re probably not a tankie.
That’s also different from critiquing actual imperialism and capitalism. But tankies’ overuse of those terms and others like “fascist” waters down the meanings and obfuscates the terms, making it harder for good-faith communicators to actually discuss these topics critically.
You can be anti-imperialist all you want, but tankies use western imperialism as an excuse to justify supporting imperialist regimes like Russia. They’re full of cognitive dissonance.
Go ahead and disagree with someone slightly on .ml or hexbear and see what kind of response you get.
WereHacker@lemmy.ml 7 hours ago
I’ve yet to try those kinds of response, when I discuss with people. Then again I haven’t been going into discussion about Yemen for instance. Mainly because my actual knowledge is simply to small to contribute. I do support anti-imperialist struggles, even by regimes I don’t like. But that does not mean I waiver my right to call out they in turn tyrannize their populations.
And yeah, I have a feeling we have a lot of online cosplayers here in the fediverse, but I will keep treating people as if they are real, when I interact. That however also mean I will keep asking people for definitions. I.e. what do you mean when you say “fash”, “tankie”, “lib” and so on. People use the slurs to hide behind and everyone loves if we can make everything black and white.
But I am a socialist and I have been called a tankie several times and I’ve even been banned for a couple of sub because I asked about that definition. I don’t mind people not liking what I say, but I will not take being slurred without questioning it. If that means a ban, well I am happy for getting out of another echo chamber.
wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 7 hours ago
See, an actual tankie would never admit to having limitations on their own personal knowledge and understanding.
I’m a socialist too and tankies have called me a fascist because I believe in democratic-socialism instead of bolshevism. They clearly don’t know what fascism is.