I’m not one to post often. I’m not really one to rant to strangers online often, even. But, after migrating from r*ddit to lemmy, I’ve had this on my mind and this seemed like the place to vent.

I see discourse about tankies constantly on Lemmy. This struck me as odd. Why are these so called tankies such a threat? Why do I see people calling themselves left-wing and attacking tankies more voraciously than neoliberals and, sometimes, even fascists?

I think I know the answer, just as well as most people who will read this. These are the Zizeks of the world: people who do indeed think in a left-wing oriented way, but fail to recognise that they’re also Western to the core and the biases that come with that.

I sincerely care about this much less than the actual reason I’m making this post. That is: why don’t these people notice that their talking points, left-oriented as they may seem, always end up supporting US allies or attacking US enemies? I mean, do these people not see that Ukraine winning the war is a boon to the US, regardless of who is “right” in that conflict? Many other such cases, but I think I’ve made my point, or, rather, my confusion, clear.

That’s it. That’s the post.

  • Emanuel@lemmy.eco.brOP
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    2 months ago

    Ah, yes, of course. I specified western because I had in mind certain people I’ve seen using lemmy, as I mentioned in the OP, which, as far as I’ve gathered, is populated mostly by westerners.

    • Awoo [she/her]@hexbear.net
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      2 months ago

      Yep yep I understand why you did. I just wanted to clarify why the root of this is nationalism.

      I think “western chauvinism” doesn’t truly get to the root of it. It’s unclear what to do to fix it. Whereas with nationalism there is a very clear solution. Although to a certain degree “western chauvinism” does play on american liberals quite well because they don’t want to be viewed as racists.