this post was submitted on 16 Jan 2025
329 points (97.1% liked)

MeanwhileOnGrad

1472 readers
1296 users here now

"Oh, this is calamity! Calamity! Oh no, he's on the floor!"

Welcome to MoG!


Meanwhile On Grad


Documenting hate speech, conspiracy theories, apologia/revisionism, and general tankie behaviour across the fediverse. Memes are welcome!


What is a Tankie?


Alternatively, a detailed blog post about Tankies.

(caution of biased source)


Basic Rules:

Sh.itjust.works Instance rules apply! If you are from other instances, please be mindful of the rules. — Basically, don't be a dick.

Hate-Speech — You should be familiar with this one already; practically all instances have the same rules on hate speech.

Apologia(Using the Modern terminology for Apologia) No Defending, Denying, Justifying, Bolstering, or Differentiating authoritarian acts or endeavours, whether be a Pro-CCP viewpoint, Stalinism, Islamic Terrorism or any variation of Tankie Ideology.

Revisionism — No downplaying or denying atrocities past and present. Calling Tankies shills, foreign/federal agents, or bots also falls under this rule. Extremists exist. They are real. Do not call them shills or fake users as it handwaves their extremism.

Tankies can explain their views but may be criticised or attacked for them. Any slight infraction on the rules above will immediately earn a warning and possibly a ban.

Off-topic Discussion — Do not discuss unrelated topics to the point of derailing the thread. Stay focused on the direct content of the post as opposed to arguing.

You'll be warned if you're violating the instance and community rules. Continuing poor behaviour after being warned will result in a ban or removal of your comments. Bans typically only last 24 hours, but each subsequent infraction will double the amount. Depending on the content, the ban time may be increased. You may request an unban at any time.


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Apparently "nationalism is bad" is an uncivil take. Unless there's another reason someone would ban this comment... 🤔

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 hours ago

Have you figured it out yet? Brainwashed China IS maga.

Stethoscope theory, but more like a horshoe shape.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

I got banned for saying China and the DPRK are oppressive regimes and that Ukraine has a right to exist because I violated “rule 1”. The irony lmao

[–] [email protected] 14 points 11 hours ago

American nationalism is bad because it's an empire. That take is allowed.

Chinese nationalism, however, is good because it's also an empire.

[–] Rhoeri 16 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Ahhh. The vague and often confusingly unexplainable “Rule 1” violation on .ml that all the minions residing there always seem to find a way to pretend doesn’t exist when their beloved shithole of an instance’s strapped down oppressive bias is under attack.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 hours ago

I got mine yesterday too!

I mentioned bending over for dictators and they claimed it's implied homophobia. Before getting banned, I asked if we're back to assuming everyone on the Internet is male and got replied "oh look, I'm not a bigot, it's implied misogyny not implied homophobia"...

The expression isn't about any specific gender or sexuality, it's about the power dynamic... It's about the fact that people will do anything to please their masters.

[–] [email protected] 86 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (7 children)

Lmao

Try this:

Criticizing the US, Russia, Israel, and Hamas all in one go, gets banned anyways.

Edit: Btw, those Chinese students aren't necessary "brainwashed".

There's a chinese idiom called: 隔墙有耳 (Literally meaning: There's an ear on the other side of the wall)

They know everyone is watching and listening, so they don't feel safe speaking what they actually believe, especially not in public.

People criticize the government all the time, behind close doors with people you know.

[–] mlg 1 points 2 hours ago

That EXE crash error was really coming from the mod lmao

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 hours ago

You were supposed to only criticize the US and Russia, you homophobe!

[–] [email protected] 10 points 14 hours ago

Ehhh, I've gotten close to Chinese people and a part of it is genuine, talking one on one. However they are also filled with valid criticism for America as well (although I am British and generally tell them to think what they like about the USA, I couldn't care less).

Things like the Taiwan issue is hard. It's like "we won't invade Taiwan" but also "America should stop giving Taiwan weapons to defend itself". And also usual circular reasoning "Taiwan is our because it just is"

What doesn't help is western people's attitudes. Many Chinese people know life in the West is better. But I saw some British people on Xiaohongshu telling Chinese people "don't come here, we want to leave". They were telling the Chinese that education is expensive here, yet neglecting to say that our definition of inexpensive education is like other european countries with free university, compared to how it is here where all education is free up until 18, then universities are paid for 3-9k per year on a very generous loan with low interest that is paid off by extra tax and has an expiry date where it's written off entirely. Or how hard it is to find a job, when China has a far bigger unemployment rate, and those who are employed have to run a 'rat race'. But life is seemingly better there because they have big cities with mass transit systems and you can order oreos to your house at 3am.

Don't get me wrong- I think China would actually be really nice to visit as a holiday destination. But I'd hate to actually live and work there.

And that's not talking about censorship, lack of freedom of thought or the freedom of religion

[–] [email protected] 14 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

Edit: Btw, those Chinese students aren't necessary "brainwashed".

Valid, and perhaps the "brainwashed" statement was an unfair one, though in at least a couple cases, the emotion behind the words felt very genuine. On the flip side, there was at least one standout conversation with a particular student where the opposite was true, so perhaps each case deserves more nuance than the blanket statement of "they're brainwashed."

EDIT: That ban is actually beautiful, btw. The hate the "regulars" perpetuate while going untouched versus bans on comments like this speaks far louder about the belief structure of the mods than any back and fourth with them could.

[–] Reddfugee42 2 points 12 hours ago

People criticize the government all the time, behind close doors with people you know.

Local girls? In my neighborhood?

[–] [email protected] 20 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

lol wtf... that comment was not even bad... deff some power trippin going on

[–] [email protected] 30 points 20 hours ago (3 children)

the two dudes who lead lemmy development and run both lemmy.ml and lemmygrad both deeply and truly suck at being decent human beings

[–] Rhoeri 6 points 11 hours ago

Ever notice how they frequently respond in pairs as well? Wherever you see one spewing bullshit Marxist quotes and libraries worth of links, you’ll find the other.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (1 children)

Nutonic is second in command of lemmy.ml

[–] GrammarPolice 2 points 1 hour ago

Is that real?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 20 hours ago

My account has extensive "criminal" record with .ml

I am a bit more provocative, top comment here got banned for an a mild opinion lol

they must be getting tired of being drowned out by common sense.

[–] theunknownmuncher 11 points 20 hours ago (4 children)

We really should defederate from this shit

[–] Rhoeri 2 points 11 hours ago

I have no idea why it’s taking so long.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 hours ago

You can always choose an instance that does, or block the instance in your settings.

[–] cm0002 11 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

Yes, until then we can each do small things like

  • Crosspost actual decent content in a .ml comm to a non-.ml comm (a perfect opportunity to grow smaller comms)

  • Call out their BS whenever you see it on other instances

  • Screenshot their Tankie propaganda and post it here

  • Advise newcomers

  • Make memes about it

  • Downvote any .ml community post you come across and then see 1st point

.world has already defed'd 2 of the 3 of the Tankie Triad, but I've been seeing a lot of "sticking heads in the sand"

[–] [email protected] 17 points 20 hours ago

infosec.pub

defederates the big 3 (lemmygrad.ml, hexbear.net, lemmy.ml)

[–] [email protected] 8 points 13 hours ago

pretty much par for the course on lemmy, you can't have any interesting discussions about anything because you just get banned before it starts to get exciting.

seems to be most of the internet these days though. Dead internet theory and what not, although im convinced it should be altered slightly into three groups rather than two.

  • people who are genuine real people and act like them (10-20%)
  • people functionally indistinguishable from a bash script running coded responses (i think this is like 40% of the internet)
  • chatgpt (whatever the remaining percent is, who cares.)
[–] [email protected] 73 points 21 hours ago (4 children)

I dated a Chinese student at university. She seemed alright until somehow the topic of Tibet came up, and then she went full tankie describing how the Tibetan people were nearly subhuman, living terrible lives with no ability to care for themselves.

I've heard people say similar shit about indigenous Americans and yeah I think it's safe to say that you cannot understate the dangers of propaganda and nationalism.

[–] Lauchs 30 points 20 hours ago

Oh man, Asians hate so many other Asians so ferverently it's impressive. I knew a Japanese girl whose mom threatened to disown her if she dated any "Chinese hell bastards" (which was in fact, every Chinese person.)

[–] Majorllama 25 points 20 hours ago (7 children)

Ain't no racism like Asian racism. I lived with a Chinese buddy of mine for almost 10 years. He said American racism has nothing on Asian racism. Some of the Chinese and Japanese people legitimately despise each other. Long history of atrocities between them.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 14 hours ago (3 children)

Well you've never asked a European about gypsies.

[–] MothmanDelorian 2 points 2 hours ago

100% my default when any European talks bout American racism. It is shocking how intensely racist these people are.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 13 hours ago

"I'm not racist, racism is wrong! except to gypsies... and arabs/jews, and also indians, and also-"

Remember, hate against those races are Justified! (despite that being the argument for literally every single racist)

[–] Majorllama 4 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

My extended family is German and British. I am well aware how the gypsies are thought of by many over there.

I have lost track of how many times I have brought up gypsies when they are taking about how racist Americans are and then suddenly "it's different". They literally don't even look at it the same way. That's some wild shit.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

I think it is different in some way. I can't speak for Britain or Germany, but in Italy the situation with Romani, Sinthi or Caminanti (the three ethnicities of "Gypsies", not sure how they translate to English) is a mix of political failure, policy issue, integration gone wrong and finally racism. The thing is, the majority of people of those ethnicities live and work in society, and you wouldn't be able to point out someone being a sinthi, unless they would tell you. Most of these people don't get any hate, and they wouldn't in most cases even if people would know. However the "visibile" part of this population is the minority that lives in "camps" (policy failure), is generally a completely separate community and lives a completely different lifestyle including begging and petty crimes. These are the ones that get alla the hatred, and not even in all cases, there are success stories here too. Many people consider them subhuman, and this is racism 100%. Some people hate what they do (I.e. what they think they do based on some true fact, lots of stereotypes and collective attribution), but race has not much to do with it. There is a racist component in extending stereotypes to all the community, of individual crimes to the community, of course.

The problem is also quite hard to fix, because many of them (again, of those living in camps) are country-less after Yugoslavia dissolved, they don't speak the language and they have super low scholarisation. Nobody wants to invest resources, so these people live as they can, which reinforces the stereotypes etc.

Anyway, my point is that most people have or would have absolutely no problem with gypsies that they meet in regular contexts. Most people though simply don't even know they exist outside the camps. This makes it a very weird form of racism, that also varies across Europe. For example my mom lived in Portugal in a community where gypsies were integrated in some way (going around with horses and stuff!) and she was friends with them. Completely different from the ones in our area in Italy.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

many of them (again, of those living in camps) are country-less after Yugoslavia dissolved

You mean, the Roma who live in "camps" in Italy were formally Yugoslavian citizens?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 hours ago

Yes, some of them were. They migrated and then didn't have a country anymore after it dissolved. Many acquired Italian citizenship, but some are stateless.

Small numbers (few thousands) -> https://index.statelessness.eu/country/italy

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 15 hours ago

That's horrifying honestly

I would've left the room

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] cm0002 21 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago) (1 children)

Ah yes good ol Rule 1 "Bigotry" the classic .ml go-to

Whenever you bring up the bans though the more prominent .ml users will proclaim that people mostly get banned for "bigotry" on .ml and there's definitely no problem with opposing viewpoints.

This is the "bigotry" they speak of

Edit:

[–] [email protected] 8 points 20 hours ago

They can stay over there, and I will stay over here. Glory to the Fediverse.

load more comments
view more: next ›