I’m not one to post often. I’m not really one to rant to strangers online often, even. But, after migrating from r*ddit to lemmy, I’ve had this on my mind and this seemed like the place to vent.
I see discourse about tankies constantly on Lemmy. This struck me as odd. Why are these so called tankies such a threat? Why do I see people calling themselves left-wing and attacking tankies more voraciously than neoliberals and, sometimes, even fascists?
I think I know the answer, just as well as most people who will read this. These are the Zizeks of the world: people who do indeed think in a left-wing oriented way, but fail to recognise that they’re also Western to the core and the biases that come with that.
I sincerely care about this much less than the actual reason I’m making this post. That is: why don’t these people notice that their talking points, left-oriented as they may seem, always end up supporting US allies or attacking US enemies? I mean, do these people not see that Ukraine winning the war is a boon to the US, regardless of who is “right” in that conflict? Many other such cases, but I think I’ve made my point, or, rather, my confusion, clear.
That’s it. That’s the post.
I’ll take a slightly different take and argue it’s a coping mechanism. They see an ascendent neo-fascism that they’re powerless to stop, with the liberal institutions discarding any pretense of caring about what their constituents want and are at best indifferent to the neo-fascism, at worst willing to ally with it to protect their interests (see: Macron). So they look for something easy to feel like they’re getting a W and, oh look here’s this loud online but completely powerless in real politics hard left. So they can act like “containing the tankie contagion” is them doing their part to preserve “democracy.”
Huh, maybe. I do see the tendency for them to try to dunk on “tankies” and feel good about it, though I would argue this is normal for any group of people trying to fit in with each other.
I find it silly, though, that they feel it’s important and has real material impact in the world to wear the Ukrainian flag on their handles and other such shenanigans. Like they’re speaking truth to power, only there’s no power that represses them.