• Psychodelic@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    7
    arrow-down
    17
    ·
    edit-2
    9 months ago

    Alright fuck it, I’ll ask: what do you think tankie means?

    And more-importantly, what did you actually mean? lol

    • popcap200
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      19
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      9 months ago

      Like the other guy said, authoritarian communists.

      Or authoritarian communists pretending not to be. The type of people to come out and defend everything China and Russia do while decrying “the west” at every opportunity. Constantly at it with “what aboutisms” and other bad faith arguments. People who claim we should vote third party/not vote while pretending they want to make the US better through these actions, when really they just want the US to fail. Jackson Hinkle types or Infra Haz types.

      If I recall correctly, tankies are named because tanks were used to put down protests in Czechoslovakia under the USSR and tankies will defend it.

      • Psychodelic@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        9 months ago

        Interesting. I looked at the urban dictionary definition, which was super helpful from a historical perspective (people that support sending in the tanks). But appreciate the straightforward answer. Thanks!

        Not sure why people were offended by my comment. Maybe I could’ve worded the question better. It’s weird if people expect others to know this super obscure shit no one ever really talks about anywhere else.

        • popcap200
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          9 months ago

          Oh yeah, I definitely thought you were the other guy when I was responding, who definitely seems like a tankie.

    • KevonLooney@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      18
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      9 months ago

      It’s very simple. “Authoritarian Communists”

      Tankie is a pejorative label generally applied to authoritarian communists, especially those who support acts of repression by such regimes or their allies.

      The term “tankie” was originally used by dissident Marxist–Leninists to describe members of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) who followed the party line of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). Specifically, it was used to distinguish party members who spoke out in defense of the Soviet use of tanks to crush the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and the 1968 Prague Spring uprising, or who more broadly adhered to pro-Soviet positions.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tankie

      • Psychodelic@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        9 months ago

        Sorry, I must be the dumbest person who ever tried to be a leftist.

        So the first guy criticized libs (seems like the answer is fox news type libs) and then I asked him to clarify and another person replied saying he means not-tankies (so leftists that aren’t neolibs/or just communists maybe?). At that point the first guy replies saying he knows what tankie means and that the other guy actually doesn’t. That’s when I replied again.

        Now it seems like you (and voters) are saying the guy that replied to me was in fact correct in his usage meaning she didn’t guy’s actually a tankienor maybe a conservative? I get lost there. Surely the first guy isn’t an authoritarian communist. Like what? Someone help!

        I just want to communicate with other political junkies and nerds that want to fight capitalism… someday, somebow.