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Comment by paxys | Hacker News Reader

What is a "tankie"?

Wikipedia:

> Tankie is a pejorative label for communists, particularly Stalinists, who support the authoritarian tendencies of Marxism–Leninism or, more generally, authoritarian states associated with Marxism–Leninism, whether contemporary or historical. [...]

> The term "tankie" was originally used by dissident Marxist–Leninists to describe members of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) who followed the party line of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). Specifically, it was used to distinguish party members who spoke out in defense of the Soviet use of tanks to crush the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and the 1968 Prague Spring uprising, or who more broadly adhered to pro-Soviet positions

Originally, a marxist-leninist leaning person who supported the USSR's rolling tanks into Eastern Block countries for things like the Prague Spring. More commonly these days, people who 'stan' for countries like China and Russia largely out of anti-westernism.

And here I thought it had something to do with 1989's Tank man. That couldn't have been more wrong.

That would actually be in the same vein as the origin of the term, which has to do with the soviet union rolling tanks into rebelling countries to bring them into submission.

I'd say rolling tanks OVER your own people to put them into submission is similar enough.

It's still basically just used to describe self-described socialists and communists who deny atrocities committed by communist governments or engage in deranged levels of whataboutism. I rarely see it used against garden variety lefties.

"Tankie" is a term mostly used by leftists - democratic socialists or neo-Marxists, etc. Liberals usually do not bother to distinguish between them.

That hasn’t been my experience. It’s not unheard of for libertarians to use the term.

Supporter of Marx, Lenin, Mao, Stalin and other post-stalinist regimes such as North Korea and Cuba

It's a (light) perjorative for a Marxist-Leninist, although now it's been expanded to anything left-of-center. This includes self-identification by both Maoists (who aren't exactly Marxist-Leninists in terms of doctrine), and identification of others by reactionaries (for whom it's the lazy label for anybody on the left).

… Wait, Stalinists/Maoists _self_ identify as tankies now?!

I’m only really familiar with it as a term used by democratic socialists for Stalinists, and occasionally Maoists.

(I wouldn’t have thought actual tankies would be too thrilled with the current Chinese regime, anyway.)

Yeah, there's some ironic self-identification going on, I believe.

(I'm not a tankie and far be it from me to gatekeep who gets called it, but my understanding matches yours re: the Chinese regime.)

> it's been expanded to anything left-of-center.

I've never seen it used this way. What I've seen is the term being used to describe leftist authoritarianism, usually by other leftists.

> I've never seen it used this way. What I've seen is the term being used to describe leftist authoritarianism, usually by other leftists.

These are not exclusive! My point was that it's used broadly, and is thus not inherently pejorative -- I've leftists use it both pejoratively and non-pejoratively.

Wrong

It’s used to describe people who support authoritarian left

Honestly even this is wrong, it’s more authoritarian anti-US as they support Putin

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