this post was submitted on 18 May 2024
617 points (77.5% liked)

Political Memes

5428 readers
2149 users here now

Welcome to politcal memes!

These are our rules:

Be civilJokes are okay, but don’t intentionally harass or disturb any member of our community. Sexism, racism and bigotry are not allowed. Good faith argumentation only. No posts discouraging people to vote or shaming people for voting.

No misinformationDon’t post any intentional misinformation. When asked by mods, provide sources for any claims you make.

Posts should be memesRandom pictures do not qualify as memes. Relevance to politics is required.

No bots, spam or self-promotionFollow instance rules, ask for your bot to be allowed on this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] xenoclast@lemmy.world -3 points 5 months ago (2 children)

It started as a name to use against militaristic anarchists that argued that only violence can save us.

Now it seems more like something MAGA uses obfuscate and confuse. It's very VERY similar to Pinko from the Macarthy era.

"I don't like what you say; but you used some keywords that match with this word I've heard other people use against you so I'll use it too"

Ultimately it's playground name calling when the other person isn't listening. (Or a bot or paid troll )

As an anarcho communist, I'm still voting for Biden because I'm not A FUCKING MORON.. (Not name calling. This is fact backed by evidence 😉) and this whole business annoys me.

[–] Whattrees@lemmy.blahaj.zone 18 points 5 months ago

Or you could just read a little about it.

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 suppress the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and the 1968 Prague Spring, or who more broadly adhered to pro-Soviet positions.

It did not start with militant anarchists and has nothing to do with whether violence can save us or not. It was, and is still, about whether or not you support ML dictators and brush away their obvious failures.

There is no McCarthy Committee today looking for Tankie supporters in the US. There are people who make excuses for the genocides and repression of dictators who wore red, and there are people who don't want a movement to free humanity tied to the shackles of its worst attempts.

I use the term because I don't want my advocacy for a system designed to improve the lives of every person on earth, granting them maximal freedom, to be defined by the failures of men in the past who thought the only way to accomplish that was to murder and silence everything in the way of their personal pursuit of power.

[–] sebinspace@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

Cool. Cool cool cool.