It’s more that anyone that uses the word “tankie” as an unironic pejorative is extremely likely to have never read Marxist theory and are just trying to attack Marxists that go against the standard western narrative. You just pulling the Wikipedia article when both of us are obviously familiar with the term is just condescending.

Nobody is intentionally “authoritarian.” The people trying to separate “authoritarian” Communists from “true” Communists are the same people that say there has never been “true” attempts at building Communism. Moreover, the separation point between “authoritarian” and “democratic” is never outlined, it’s purely vibes-based and meaningless. Marx and Engels were often called “authoritarian” as well, to the point that Engels wrote On Authority to debunk the entire vibes-based notion of it.

I am not treating you like you are “insane,” but that you are out of your depth when it comes to Leftist theory if you’re going to be throwing the term “tankie” around like it has actual meaning.