I'm old. What are 'Tankies'?
MeanwhileOnGrad
"Oh, this is calamity! Calamity! Oh no, he's on the floor!"
Welcome to MoG!
Meanwhile On Grad
Documenting hate speech, conspiracy theories, apologia/revisionism, and general tankie behaviour across the fediverse. Memes are welcome!
What is a Tankie?
Alternatively, a detailed blog post about Tankies.
(caution of biased source)
Basic Rules:
Sh.itjust.works Instance rules apply! If you are from other instances, please be mindful of the rules. — Basically, don't be a dick.
Hate-Speech — You should be familiar with this one already; practically all instances have the same rules on hate speech.
Apologia — (Using the Modern terminology for Apologia) No Defending, Denying, Justifying, Bolstering, or Differentiating authoritarian acts or endeavours, whether be a Pro-CCP viewpoint, Stalinism, Islamic Terrorism or any variation of Tankie Ideology.
Revisionism — No downplaying or denying atrocities past and present. Calling Tankies shills, foreign/federal agents, or bots also falls under this rule. Extremists exist. They are real. Do not call them shills or fake users as it handwaves their extremism.
Tankies can explain their views but may be criticised or attacked for them. Any slight infraction on the rules above will immediately earn a warning and possibly a ban.
Off-topic Discussion — Do not discuss unrelated topics to the point of derailing the thread. Stay focused on the direct content of the post as opposed to arguing.
You'll be warned if you're violating the instance and community rules. Continuing poor behaviour after being warned will result in a ban or removal of your comments. Bans typically only last 24 hours, but each subsequent infraction will double the amount. Depending on the content, the ban time may be increased. You may request an unban at any time.
it's actually a very old term that was recently revived. Khruschev intervened against CIA-backed fascist "revolutionaries" in Hungary in 1956. This caused a split in the Communist Party of Great Britain. those who supported the USSR's antifascist action in hungary were called "tankies". I'm not joking by the way. Liberals using the term "tankie" today to describe the so called "authoritarian" (antifascist, revolutionary, anti-imperialist) left are totally divorced from the origins of the term. It's just something they picked up. They have no insight into the historical origin of term in CPGB infighting.
Do you have evidence?
I have evidence to the contrary. The Revolution had 16 reasonable demands including a reelection of the current government heads, the right for workers to strike, and the freedom of speech. The fact the USSR sent tanks to squash demands for freedom of speech definitely foreshadowed the tactics China would use in the Tiananmen Massacre.
Man, these tankies are fun. They have been sniffing their own farts so much, it really isn't subtle with them anymore.
You can even tell who they are if they have a gender pronoun tag next to their username. I get it might be helpful in casual conversation with these folk but the format of conversations here don't give too many chances for them to be used.