• assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    46
    arrow-down
    5
    ·
    9 months ago

    Yep. A Tankie is someone who claims to be leftist but then defends all actions by governments and countries who claim to be leftist too.

    • Zagorath@aussie.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      9 months ago

      then defends all actions by governments and countries who claim to be leftist too

      Tankies don’t even need that. They just need the country to not be part of NATO and its allies. See their support for Russia, despite Russia being straight-up right-wing authoritarian with no pretence to leftism.

    • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      16
      arrow-down
      28
      ·
      9 months ago

      All governments should be criticized, even AES countries. The slur “tankie” is unhelpful and doesn’t help to educate or bring others to your side. Marxism, Leninism, Maoism and even Anarchism should be criticized and questioned, like any other ideology.

      • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        12
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        9 months ago

        I’d hardly call it a slur. And that’s exactly the problem with tankies and conservatives alike. They refuse to criticize their favorite government.

        • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          arrow-down
          14
          ·
          9 months ago

          Any word can be a slur, it depends on the context of how it’s used. Get it “rocket scientist?” Unless you were alive for the Soviet occupation of Hungary in 1956, it’s a slur.

          You can criticize the authoritarian nature of the ideology, or the rabid dogmatism. Using “tankie” is the easy way to dismiss an opinion without offering a countering opinion.