I’m not even a communist (well, I’m indistinguishable from one based on my posting here but in a more nuanced conversation there are some differences) and I get called a tankie. Anarchists get called tankies for calling for an end of the Zionist occupation of Palestine. Social Democrats get called tankies for wanting reduced military spending.
Not long after Russia rolled into Ukraine, Noam Chomsky, a guy that has called the collapse of the Soviet Union socialism’s greatest victory, released a statement putting the conflict in its proper historical context, and basically the whole of reddit started calling him a tankie lol.
From that point on it was indisputable that the term has become literally meaningless.
Authoritarian communists
I’m not even a communist (well, I’m indistinguishable from one based on my posting here but in a more nuanced conversation there are some differences) and I get called a tankie. Anarchists get called tankies for calling for an end of the Zionist occupation of Palestine. Social Democrats get called tankies for wanting reduced military spending.
Not long after Russia rolled into Ukraine, Noam Chomsky, a guy that has called the collapse of the Soviet Union socialism’s greatest victory, released a statement putting the conflict in its proper historical context, and basically the whole of reddit started calling him a tankie lol.
From that point on it was indisputable that the term has become literally meaningless.