I’m not sure I’ve seen any evidence of it existing though, is it just a Boogeyman, or so something that happened a while back? An in joke of some sort?

  • mim@lemmy.sdf.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    113
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    Just check out any news article outside Lemmy.world on the Ukrainian war or China.

    It always gets flooded by accounts from lemmygrad and hexbear doing mental gymnastics and whataboutism to justify whatever Russia or China are doing.

    • Squids@sopuli.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      30
      ·
      1 year ago

      You’ll also find them around and about in any sort of historical sub

      Most of the tankies I’ve encountered have been in the comments of historymemes communities on posts about the fall of the Berlin Wall. Go in expecting Regan jokes, come out after having a 30 comment argument with someone trying to claim that the Holodomor didn’t happen (like, at all, not that it wasn’t intentional), that Stalin never condoned the Purges, and the Stasi weren’t that bad

      • mim@lemmy.sdf.org
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        19
        ·
        1 year ago

        I’ve had a tankie acuse me of being libelous against North Korea by mentioning their human rights abuses.

        When I presented links to the UN’s reports on the subject, they just got stuck in a loop asking for sources for my claims.

        • Squids@sopuli.xyz
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          17
          ·
          1 year ago

          Oh yeah they do that - I once brought up the cultural aspect of genocide in a discussion about Russification and was instantly told that I only cared about that definition of genocide so that I could accuse China of genociding Uygurs and any attempt to point out that no that has been the definition of genocide for a long time (see - the UN’s various declarations) was met with them demanding me I show them the proof that China was really doing that.

          …in an argument about the Baltics in the cold war.

        • Eldritch@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          9
          ·
          1 year ago

          I was told yesterday that North Korea was in the shape it is because of UN sanctions against workers there. LOL.

          And while I can absolutely admit that the West has been problematic especially the United States in these contexts. That North Korea has done plenty to make their situation and what it is all on their own.

      • Astroturfed@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        1 year ago

        They defend Stalin and Mao to death. Deny all negative historical events. Tianamen square didn’t happen etc. It’s pretty wild.

    • CmdrShepard
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      26
      ·
      1 year ago

      The hexbear users are especially annoying as it seems to be a requirement for them that they embed the most annoying jpegs/gifs into their propaganda comments.

      • mim@lemmy.sdf.org
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        26
        ·
        1 year ago

        I’ve always leaned left, and not in the “American Democrat” way. I’ve read Marx, Engels, Kropotkin, Luxemburg, etc. Not that I agree with them on everything, but they make good points.

        But every day I see tankies defend Russia just because it’s not the US, I feel like I’m moving more center just out of spite.

        • GBU_28@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          16
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          Political movement out of spite is perfect thanks for that.

          I generally agree with the goals of a more communist society, but the inability of hexbear or lemmygrad users to consider any kind of incremental progress, and the inability to recognize any single solitary good thing to happen in a capitalist country is so annoying.

          How can I be interested in an ideology when every member is frothing at the mouth angry at anything that isn’t classical party-speak?

          • mim@lemmy.sdf.org
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            15
            ·
            edit-2
            1 year ago

            Russia is not even pretending to be communist anymore. It’s a full blown corrupt capitalist oligarchy. But just because it’s not an US ally, they will defend it.

        • wahming@monyet.cc
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          6
          ·
          1 year ago

          Yeah it’s amazing how tone deaf some of them can be, and they don’t even realise when they’re doing the opposite of promoting their views

      • mim@lemmy.sdf.org
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        28
        ·
        1 year ago

        I guess tankies are now making accounts in other instances so that they don’t get blocked.

        • EndlessApollo@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          28
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          I’m pretty sure they’re being sarcastic, “(terrible thing) didn’t happen but happen but if it did (whatever group) deserved it” is a joke I see a lot about genocide deniers and their (lack of) logic

          • mim@lemmy.sdf.org
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            9
            ·
            1 year ago

            Normally I’d agree with you, but I’ve read enough posts from Lemmy tankies that I cannot be sure anymore.

      • mashbooq@infosec.pub
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        1 year ago

        What kind of dialectical brainrot is this? America doing something terrible doesn’t mean Ukraine deserves to suffer the same from russia. Weirdo

          • Black_Gulaman@lemmy.dbzer0.com
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            12
            ·
            1 year ago

            I honestly can’t tell if that post is meant to be sarcasm.

            Because I’ve seen similar posts and that the poster really believed in it. And that’s part of what’s plaguing lemmy. Unironic whataboutism.

            • wahming@monyet.cc
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              edit-2
              1 year ago

              BTW dude your username is annoying. You comment a lot and every time I see it I get hungry

              Edit: it’s weird and interesting how many downvotes this comment is getting for a simple in-joke

      • MyFairJulia@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        1 year ago

        I feel like the Narcissist’s prayer ends too quickly. What if someone, perhaps Ukraine, didn’t deserve it? Isn’t there an excuse for that? Like “It’s not my fault you looked like you had a Nazi problem” but more generic? Hey, perhaps one could add “It’s not my fault” at the end to allow for recursion.

        • Intralexical@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          1 year ago

          ..No. That’s a good place to end it. “You deserved it” is the only line that’s honest about what they believe. They just go through the rest first because it’s an easier sell.

  • gerryflap@feddit.nl
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    41
    ·
    1 year ago

    Lemmy.world defederated from those instances. When I switched to a different instance I started to notice it. There are a lot of them, you just don’t see them.

    • Kalash@feddit.ch
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      13
      ·
      1 year ago

      Lemmy.world defederated from those instances.

      From which ones? Because they are still federated with lemmygrad.ml, which is by far the biggest tankie instance.

  • gelberhut@lemdro.id
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    35
    ·
    1 year ago

    Lemmy is founded and developed by two communists and anti-US persons as a commy friendly alternative of Reddit. They also admin two (?) Lemmy instances.

    I assume that after people from Reddit migrated it becomes more balanced. But still, reading news and comments in “technology” communities I feel like I read “anti-corporporate”, not technology topics.

      • gelberhut@lemdro.id
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        Well, I was talking about technology communities, not Foss.

        And even for foss, it can and should be pro Foss, and not anti-corpiration - this is much more productive and inspiring. Like Lemmy itself must be busy with its own things instead of fixating on hating Reddit.

        Just IMHO.

        • Eldritch@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          15
          ·
          1 year ago

          Have you considered that corporations have done a lot of the legwork on their own to get people to hate them? A lot of people mistakenly treat corporations like some sort of necessary evil. They aren’t necessary.

          • gelberhut@lemdro.id
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            If they are not nessesary just do not use their service. Suv is not a nessesary type of car - just buy another one.

            Anyway, my point was creating/discussions good things is better that focusing on hating thinks you do not like.

            • Eldritch@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              15
              ·
              1 year ago

              That is not remotely a cogent comparison. Do you understand the difference between unavoidable and necessary? Falling on to rocks from a decent height, getting impaled is unavoidable. But it isn’t necessary.

              Likewise, being born into a hell hole that destroyed it’s cities and communities by prioritizing accommodations for cars over people. Cars are unavoidable, not necessary.

              Capitalism is exploitative and unavoidable currently. Especially if you have resources a capitalist wants. Even if you mind your own business, they will come in. Attack you and rob you just to get what they want.

              The timeline of human history dwarfs the timeline of capitalism and corporations. We’ve gotten by for most of human history without capitalism and corporations. An indoctrinated capitalists like yourself would argue however that capitalism and corporations gave us industry and a lot of the things we currently enjoy. To which I would immediately deflate your balloon by pointing out that Russia and other countries that weren’t capitalist also industrialized at the same time. Keep in mind none of this is praise of Lenin his ideology or any of the countries that claimed to follow it. Simply pointing out the willful ignorance and lack of education on the part of capitalist fan boys.

    • Intralexical@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      Yes. Protecting tankies is explicitly part of the original purpose of Lemmy. It’s almost like the anti-Parler/Gab/Voat, in that it was made by left-wing people as a haven for political views that would be too radical to be tolerated on the mainstream platforms:

      Leftists know that our position on these platforms is tenuous at best; we’re currently tolerated, but that will not always be the case.

      …Naturally, this meant that it ended up attracting people who unironically identify as “leftist” while cheerleading the genocidal imperialist war led by the right-leaning conservative United Russia Party of the RF, or the also-rather-genocidal ethnocratic state capitalism of the PRC.

  • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 ℹ️@yiffit.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    32
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    I’ve seen one or two posts that had communist Nazi vibes. I just blocked the users posting them and haven’t had a problem since.

    The big name instances that generate these boogyman claims are blocked on Lemmy World. They’re not blocked on my instance, but they also aren’t really any different than any other posts from any other instances. The most cited reason isn’t the content they post, but the fact the creator of the instance (in this case I am referring to Lemmygrad) is a tankie. Well they don’t seem to post a helluva lot for it to matter, and the average users there aren’t crazy assholes in my experience.

    The Hexbear stuff, on the other hand… Every single user I’ve seen from that instance behaved like a 4chan troll or T_D user.

  • AbsolutelyNotCats@lemdro.id
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    32
    ·
    1 year ago

    They’re blocked in your instance, just like piracy related communities.

    That’s why i left LW, I want to decide which communities I block

    • Black_Gulaman@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      12
      ·
      1 year ago

      Believe me, it’s tiring to block things over and over, because lemmy has the tendency to have duplicate communities every instance.

      I too tried instances with zero unfederated lists. Now I just live in an instance with minimal unfederated list.

    • coaxil@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      1 year ago

      What made you select lemdro.id ? If I may ask, I’m wanting to get off lemmy.world also, but seem to be getting stuck in waiting for approval hell from the couple instances I signed up with.

      • AbsolutelyNotCats@lemdro.id
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        Sincerely main reason was that it had no blocked instances and it had content enough, then the name is also cool.

        You just need to verify your email, that’s a plus as well against other instances that ask for more information or have registration closed

    • maporita@unilem.org
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      1 year ago

      Me too. I found unilem who’s policy is explicitly not to defederate from any instance. I prefer to be treated like an adult and allowed to decide for myself who I block.

  • bitsplease@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    22
    ·
    1 year ago

    Looking at your account, you’re on a instance that is defederated with the worst offenders

    Make a lemmy.ml account and pop into any thread that talks about Ukraine and you won’t be confused anymore lol

    Personally, I don’t mind one bit that they’re communist, but their trollish behavior and their tendency to act like China and Russia (and I’ve even seen a few for North Korea) are bastions of individual liberty, prosperity, and justice with no faults makes them exactly as annoying as the super nationalist western folks who act the same about the US or Europe (depending usually purely on where they’re from).

    Basically it’s not a communist problem, it’s a troll problem where the trolls all happen to be communist

  • UsernameLost@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    18
    ·
    1 year ago

    I’ve just been blocking instances. I realized after the fact that I signed up with lemmy.ml, which contributes to it, but was the only instance that was quickly approving people when I signed up. It may be time to switch instances, or finally get off my ass and make my own.

    I don’t mind some of the ideas, but seeing people constantly sucking off Russia and China gets old in a hurry.

    • Astroturfed@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      Saw a comment from a dude calling everyone on .ml Nazis earlier today and was like wtf??? Looked at his comment history, pro Russia tanky calling any NATO/pro NATO country Nazis/Nazi lovers. Some people are just crazy deluded. Ukraine is full of Nazis cuz it was taken by Germany in WW2 AND EVERYONE KNOWS ITS STILL ALL NAZIS.

      • angstylittlecatboy@reddthat.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        1 year ago

        .ml is literally run by Marxist-Leninists??? (Same people as Lemmygrad, but .ml is a general instance rather than one dedicated to leftism)

  • ARF_ARF@reddthat.com
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    14
    ·
    1 year ago

    Tankie now means the same as Nazi — “a person with a political view I don’t like”.

    I’ve seen people called tankies for not toeing the Trotskyist line on Stalin (this btw is the original meaning) but also for being socialists and not really vibing with the newest gender updates.

    Also if you’re defederating with other instances over crap like this, why not just host a BBS?

    • fubo@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      50
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      Tankie now means the same as Nazi — “a person with a political view I don’t like”.

      There are actual neo-Nazis — yes, I mean people who venerate Hitler, use Nazi Party symbols, advocate antisemitism and genocide — actively involved in politics in many countries, including the US, Germany, and Russia. Do you deny this?

      • ARF_ARF@reddthat.com
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        1 year ago

        I’ve noticed this interrogative style more and more in my runs in with the woke, both offline and online.

        So my question to you is — what the fuck do you think you’re doing?

        This doesn’t make you look strong or confident. It makes you sound like a soyboy.

        • 0Empty0@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          37
          ·
          1 year ago

          What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? I’ll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Navy Seals, and I’ve been involved in numerous secret raids on Al-Quaeda, and I have over 300 confirmed kills. I am trained in gorilla warfare and I’m the top sniper in the entire US armed forces. You are nothing to me but just another target. I will wipe you the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with saying that shit to me over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of spies across the USA and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your life. You’re fucking dead, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can kill you in over seven hundred ways, and that’s just with my bare hands. Not only am I extensively trained in unarmed combat, but I have access to the entire arsenal of the United States Marine Corps and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable ass off the face of the continent, you little shit. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little “clever” comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking tongue. But you couldn’t, you didn’t, and now you’re paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will shit fury all over you and you will drown in it. You’re fucking dead, kiddo.

        • Guntrigger@feddit.ch
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          21
          ·
          1 year ago

          Using “woke” as a negative and using the term “soyboy” at all are both huge red flags.

          Gives off “alpha male” incel vibes.

          • fubo@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            9
            ·
            1 year ago

            As Wilhelm Reich noticed back in the '40s, many fascists are psychologically incapable of consensual sexual relations.

        • fubo@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          1 year ago

          If someone claimed that people just say “theft” to mean “transactions I don’t like”, that would be denying the existence of actual theft.

          If someone claimed that people just say “slavery” to mean “jobs I don’t like”, that would be denying the existence of actual slavery.

          Same goes here.

          Pointing out denialism is usually only a problem to the people engaged in it, and the wrongdoers they’re defending.

    • sapient [they/them]@infosec.pub
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      47
      ·
      1 year ago

      “Gender updates” is the best term i’ve heard for transitioning in a while. I’m stealing it now, the bigots can’t have it. 󰱫

      (also note for anyone reading: the term “tankie” refers to people who embrace authoritarianism and usually specific self-declared “socialist” states repressing civilians, often modern day states that don’t even pretend to be socialist like Russia, or the CCP, or North Korea/DPRK, or even just any nation considered “anti-West” regardless of their behaviour or internal political structure x.x

      It started when parts of the Communist Party of Great Britain split off from the main party because the main party supported the USSR crushing (with tanks) Hungarian socialists trying to break off from the USSR, for a number of reasons - others were involved too, but the worker councils themselves were major parts of the uprising - see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tankie and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_Revolution_of_1956 - there were attempts at worker council parlimentary democracy and such, as well as attempts for direct-democracy ^.^

      The most recent Tankie Thing is supporting Russia for invading Ukraine, or doing weird enlightened-centrism on it because the USA gives support to Ukraine. More broadly, tankies generally seem to act as if any act by another country is always less bad than the USA, and that only the USA can be imperialist, or various variations on this concept >.<.

      It should be noted that the right wing have started to some degree calling all leftists tankies and IMO anyone should reject this attempted co-option of the word because it allows people to falsely conflate leftism with tankie ideologies, even though they are often a small minority in IRL leftist activism, with more common groups being anarchists, democratic socialists, some Marxists (even some Marxist-Leninists, which itself is a controversial term tbh), various libertarian socialisms and communisms, and the odd further-left social democrat ^.^)

      • ARF_ARF@reddthat.com
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        It’s so interesting how for all your radical posturing you’re still stooges for American imperialism.

        Parroting the State Department is so revolutionary.

        • sapient [they/them]@infosec.pub
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          28
          ·
          1 year ago

          lol you really think I just parrot the US state department. Honestly this is another thing with tankies, they seem to be incapable of conceiving of geopolitics more complex than “arm of the USA” or “not arm of the USA”.

          The idea of only partial-alignment even among nominal allies, and complex conflicting geopolitical interests, and the idea of spectrums and complexity beyond “US=bad” “not US=good” is foreign to them, or even criticizing actions of organizations rather than just deciding XYZ organization is evil or good and retroactively justifying or opposing every action they take (let alone consider that an action could have mixed consequences or ethics, both positive or negative ;p).

          For example, I am still capable of criticising Ukraine’s actions (for example like using cluster bombs, even if last I saw Russia used them first I still am not in favour of them) and the propaganda they produce, or worrying about the effects of the significant debt on Ukrainians and their public services in the form of disaster capitalism, or also generally expressing my issue with States as a whole while still opposing brazen imperialism by Russia ^.^, or criticising the dehumanisation of Russian people in some of the conversations I’ve seen (especially the people who left Russia, when those are the people least likely to support the Russian Government’s actions and are often fleeing persecution themselves e.g. queer Russians).

          I just don’t usually specifically say these things because in practise the conversations in which it comes up are already horrifically derailed by apologia for Russia’s actions and enlightened-centrism, so expressing the nuance is completely useless because the people I’m responding to just hate anything they associate with “the West” (which itself is not necessarily a fully coherent concept) and usually massively whitewash the shit going on in Russia, both about Ukraine and also other things <.<

          • ARF_ARF@reddthat.com
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            1 year ago

            Unless this is in the context of an actual active political party none of what you wrote matters.

            Individuals can be weird and regarded. But you know what? I’d rather organise with someone who incorrectly believes that Stalin did no wrong but is otherwise committed to socialism than you censorious purity testing lot.

            I’m a random idiot from Serbia and you’re interrogating me as if I’m not posting on a niche Reddit clone but applying to be in the central committee of your party.

          • ARF_ARF@reddthat.com
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            1 year ago

            Oh you sussed me out inspector. I’m a total “redfash”.

            I don’t have to justify myself to you.

            And this whole thread, this swarm of bullshit over just saying the word “tankie” is tired and overused.

            Just makes you look totally off your rocker collectively.

        • GBU_28@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          1 year ago

          Classic tankie whataboutism.

          “Uh you didn’t explicitly denounce the west in your comment so you are an imperial parrot!”

          Holy shit man

      • Strawberry@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        even some Marxist-Leninists, which itself is a controversial term tbh

        Could you elaborate on this? I have not heard of a controversy about this term

        • Franzia@lemmy.blahaj.zone
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          1 year ago

          Marxist-Leninists tend to have accidentally read russian / USSR propoganda and will have some sussy takes because of it. Marxist-Leninist youtubers are all tankies or cult-like and it’s a bit of a nightmare.

        • sapient [they/them]@infosec.pub
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          Marxism-Leninism as a term was actually created by Stalin as a sort of post-hoc justification thing. It was not made by Lenin, but Stalin. This is linguistic weirdness/controversy, in that the name can serve to hide it’s origins from casual readers.

          The other commenter has explained the more concrete thing with the fact that lots of them are tankies or proto-tankies ^.^

  • Astroturfed@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    13
    ·
    1 year ago

    Some of them stick to posting mostly anti-west sentiment outside their home tanky friendly instances, but if you get in the right comment section. Oh man do they get wild. Crazy pro China propoganda. Lots of Russian support cuz the west is evil.

  • Franzia@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    12
    ·
    1 year ago

    It’s mostly Hexbear, and they know they are annoying. The politics on Lemmy is… wildly different from what a regular social media looks like.

    • grue@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      1 year ago

      wildly different from what a regular social media looks like.

      It’s wildly different from what social media moderated by corporations looks like, but I’m not so sure which is “regular.”

      • stevehobbes@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        It looks wildly different than what social interactions with any people I know in real life.

        It’s a super small percentage of the population that is wildly over represented in lemmy.

        It’s definitely not “regular” outside of Russia and China.

    • ArxCyberwolf@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      1 year ago

      Some instances such as Hexbear federate for the sole purpose of brigading to harass and argue in bad faith. Have you not been paying attention to the countless threads they have been spamming?

        • ArxCyberwolf@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          Take a look on any post outside of lemmy.world that remotely mentions China, Russia, Ukraine or North Korea, and you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about. Unless their mass flooding of pig poop emojis, bad faith arguments and authoritarian apologetics don’t count as trolling or brigading to shut down discussion.

  • hark@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    1 year ago

    Diehard democrats finding out they’re not as leftist as they thought they were. Anything that runs counter to their narrative is “tankie”. They’re afraid of what is different and it’s their version of calling everything they don’t understand/like “woke”.