Yeah, definitely not. "Tankie" isn't some mostly meaningless word like "woke", it's a very specific belief in authoritarian self-declared, so-called "communist" states (USSR, China, North Korea, et al).

They claim to be for revolution and then turn around and give 100% blind obedience to the newly installed leaders. Pointing out their immense power or bad actions gets you called brainwashed, a reactionary, or counter-revolutionary. They win gold in mental gymnastics in regards to how the new ruling class totally doesn't count as a ruling class, how the state doesn't count as a state, how the money doesn't count as money, and how it's still communism even though not a single one of those prerequisites has ever been met.

They don't take down systems of oppression, they replace them and refuse to believe it isn't the greatest idea anyone's ever had. Here's a hint: if your "revolutionary" party demands absolute loyalty, they probably aren't as great as they say.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I totally agree with your definition here, but I'd add there are some on the right who use this term to describe and dismiss almost anyone on the left. The right consistently wages war on language, co-opting words with existing definitions and changing them to suit their agenda. "Woke" is one example of this, as is "critical race theory."

[–] SkyezOpen 26 points 1 year ago

I don't think I've ever seen a mainstream right wing talking head say "tankie" and frankly I'd be impressed if they even admitted they knew the difference between the various factions of the left instead of grouping them all together. Seriously, "liberal" and "Marxist" are completely interchangeable in right rhetoric.