Many people on lemmy.ml deeply respect and admire authoritarian governments and organizations.

Iran, China, North Korea, Soviet Union…

The West has many flaws. But our flaws are nothing compared to these guys.

Iran hangs homosexuals. Iran shot 30,000 people in less than than 2 weeks. The Soviet Union had to build a fucking Iron wall to prevent people from escaping. The Soviets lied about the Chernobyl nuclear explosion. China censors the internet. China wants to eliminate Islam. North Korea is a totalitarian hellscape. Watching anime is a crime.

Why is lemmy.ml so fascinated with authoritarians?

  • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    12 hours ago

    Tankies are those who embrace and laud events that are widely, but clearly not universally, perceived to be mistakes or lapses in judgement, especially when the mistake was one where their authority was used in excess to the significant detriment of at least some of their people.

    These people don’t really exist, though, and that’s my point about “tankie” being a strawman. The vast majority of people labled as “tankies” do not laud events understood by communists to have been mistakes.

    • AHemlocksLie@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      12 hours ago

      Nah, I’ve seen enough communists agree that tankies are a thing to see this as just a No True ScotsmanCommunist fallacy. Anyone, even a professed communist who disagrees with you, must just not properly understand the true nature of communism. Honestly, should have known to drop this hours ago. I do, but against my better judgment, I thought maybe there’d be a good point here somewhere. Very typical tankie who hates to be called a tankie behavior.

      • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        12 hours ago

        Who have you seen? Random online self-professed communists, or actual serious organizations? And for what it’s worth, I’m not offended by being called a “tankie,” just like I don’t get offended when I get called “woke.” My issue is with anti-communists pretending they aren’t against communism by inventing a strawman to levy against communists in general.