• pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
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    2 days ago

    I thought tankie was for any government that used tanks on their own people? So many others should be included, China is missing, I think the Phillipines maybe? There’s more. I’m open to being corrected.

    • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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      2 days ago

      The word “tankie” originated as the OP describes, referring to members of the Communist Party of Great Britain that supported the USSR putting down the color revolutions in Hungary and Prague Spring. Nowadays, it is used as a catch-all pejorative for anyone to the left of the DNC.

        • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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          2 days ago

          Unsure what you’re referring to, specifically, moreover the use of the word “totalitarian” betrays a lack of understanding how the USSR functioned in reality.

          • anachronist@midwest.social
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            2 days ago

            Not talking about the USSR there skipper.

            You keep saying that people are called “tankie” for being “left of the DNC” but the only people I see being called “tankie” are folks who think a lot more people aught to be dying from polonium poisoning.

      • Whopraysforthedevil@midwest.social
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        2 days ago

        That’s not entirely accurate. I’m sure some use it that way, but it’s not “left of the DNC” to support the modern Russian state and its actions, which is the problem most people have with Tankies.

        • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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          2 days ago

          The word “tankie” isn’t solely applied to people who critically support Russia in its temporary anti-US Hegemony stance. Again, the lack of unity behind the usage of the term means some may use it in a more reserved and restricted manner, but in reality it is used by liberals of all stripes against leftists of all stripes.