this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2023
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[–] trafficnab@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (6 children)

My personal definition would be "authoritarian communist (or """communist""") regime supporters/apologists". I think a good litmus test is, if the topic of the Tiananmen Square massacre comes up, and their first input is "Ok, but, how many zeroes did the number of dead civilians really have", they're probably too far gone to bother engaging much with

Too many anarchist/commune types consider the authoritarians to be their allies because they also hate the capitalists, right up until the point they're next on the list of undesirables destined for the wall

[–] CyborgMarx@hexbear.net 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ok so a tankie is anyone who questions the baseless assertions of western regimes, the truth isn't actaully important to you, what matters is whether someone upholds obvious falsehoods and reinforces state propaganda but from the west

Got ya buddy

[–] trafficnab@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I forgot to add "struggles with reading comprehension", that's also a big indicator

[–] Flaps@hexbear.net 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)
  • starts whining about Hexbear
  • starts calling people tankies
  • uses debunked western narrative about tiananmen as litmus test
  • gets pushback
  • 'you can't read'
  • continues whining about hexbear
[–] trafficnab@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I didn't call anyone a tankie, a whole bunch of people from hexbear sure did show up feeling incredibly offended by my description of tankies though, if they want to out themselves like that, that's on them

[–] UnicodeHamSic@hexbear.net 10 points 1 year ago

No, most of us are tankies. We think using tanks on Hungarian fascists was cool and good.

[–] Egon@hexbear.net 5 points 1 year ago

Baseless accusations, lies, peddling long since-disproven myths and then whining when the consequences come around do actually offend me, you got me

[–] CyborgMarx@hexbear.net 12 points 1 year ago

"Reading comprehension" is when you accept everything you read at face value, I'm not really surprised that's something you believe

[–] LinkedinLenin@hexbear.net 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I feel like that definition would include a lot of anarchists I know tbh

[–] trafficnab@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I would hope there's not too many useful idiots who think left unity will get them anything but a free ride to a "re-education" camp

[–] MiguelParenti@hexbear.net 16 points 1 year ago

You talk about having reading comprehension like it's the ultimate skill in understanding yet you're talking about re-education camps as if they're an existing thing for that matter. You should get some media literacy skills before you go around acting smug about knowing how the world works

[–] LinkedinLenin@hexbear.net 13 points 1 year ago

Idk I don't think that's a very useful or accurate way to look at things. I do a lot of organizing and mutual aid alongside leftists of all types, (as well as liberals).

[–] FunkyStuff@hexbear.net 13 points 1 year ago

You realize that even in the wildest fantasies of Xi Jinping's biggest fans, every single Western capitalist country is generations away from revolution? We can do left unity because 0.000% of communism or anarchism have been built, and the early stages of building either involve the same goals: getting workers to stand in solidarity with each other instead of fighting over petty trivial nonsense like "tankies" online. There is literally 0 harm that so called "authoritarians" pose to other leftists, in fact the same leftists who clutch their pearls over "tankies" tend to be the ones defending imperialism and the imposition of western economic hegemony on the imperial periphery (as long as they get healthcare!). What is more authoritarian and useful-idiot-esque than that?

[–] SootySootySoot@hexbear.net 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

👏 Then 👏 read 👏 the 👏 Wiki 👏 page 👏

Because that will tell you the answer is 1. One zero. Because the number of dead civilians in the Tiananmen Square Massacre is zero. No civilian deaths there. Nada. Read the wiki page, it will tell you no deaths. This information brought to you by such Commies as:

  • the US Government,
  • the Washington Post correspondent (who was there all night),
  • the CBS correspondent (same),
  • and more!

Were there a limited number of deaths in protests elsewhere that wasn't Tiananmen? Yep, about 2-3 hundred across a few hundred cities. And that's bad! But is also pretty dang small relative to the protest size, and happens in all major protests in all countries everywhere.

[–] trafficnab@lemm.ee 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Sorry I forgot to add "Ok but, were they really inside the square, or just near it?"

Spending the first 7/8ths of your comment dancing around the main issue (at a minimum hundreds, thankfully you at least have to admit to that since those are the official Chinese numbers, potentially thousands, of civilian protestors being killed by the Chinese military), laser focusing on some minor detail like it's a great big gotcha, then brushing the whole thing off at the end with "Yep it's bad, but it happens shrug" is exactly what I'm talking about

I guess I should at least thank you for so deftly illustrating my point though

[–] marx_mentat@hexbear.net 8 points 1 year ago

A few hundred cities across the country is not "near it" Something like half of the dead were cops or military. You should do some reading about where the weapons that killed them came from. Interesting stuff!

[–] Egon@hexbear.net 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

laser focusing on some minor detail.

Like you just did? Focusing in on location? Instead of taking in the larger argument? Your hypocrisy reeks

[–] trafficnab@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

point out the classic tactic of spending a lot of time picking apart minor details in an attempt to discredit the whole

no u

My impression was that you guys were supposed to be more eloquent than this

[–] Egon@hexbear.net 1 points 1 year ago

eloquence is spent on those deserving it. Why engage civilly with you when it's obvious you're not interested in good faith discourse? horsepoo-theory

[–] LittleLordLimerick@lemm.ee -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is and has always been a red herring. It's irrelevant if people were killed in the square or in the streets around the square. People were killed in Beijing by the Chinese military in order to suppress the protests. End of story.

[–] Finger@hexbear.net 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Well, A massive, purposeful, misinformation campaign by the western governments and news sites that had claimed that there were no deaths in the square in the past and then changed their narrative all of a sudden, would, to me, suggest that these entities might also be misreprenting or lying about the other events. The story obviously does not end there.

[–] LittleLordLimerick@lemm.ee -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes, Western media can definitely not be trusted. Better to get the real story from the secretive, authoritarian government that heavily suppresses speech and directly controls its major media outlets.

[–] nat_turner_overdrive@hexbear.net 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Dang I hate secretive governments, can you direct me to a western government that exposes all of its internal communications and doesn't have a huge amount of "former" state agents in major media publications?

edit: folks, I have had my weekend water on a Monday

[–] LittleLordLimerick@lemm.ee 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

You're right, there isn't a single Western country that has a freer press than China. In fact, China may be the world's last bastion of open information and free speech.

[–] Egon@hexbear.net 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Well if western media were trustworthy it would probably be very easy for you to back up your claims with actual sources that haven't been debunked.

[–] LittleLordLimerick@lemm.ee -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Sources from around the world say China behaved badly; Chinese state media says China did not behave badly. Sources debunked!

[–] Egon@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Post the non-debunked sources then, it shouldn't be difficult.
Edit: Yet again I ask a lib for sources and they disappear. It's incredible. I responded within a minute, and they have nothing lmao. It's always like this

[–] nat_turner_overdrive@hexbear.net 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Except China doesn't squeal about how free their press is all the time- that's America and the west at large, all of whose media is owned by wealthy people. thinking-about-it

[–] LittleLordLimerick@lemm.ee 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There were some Western news outlets that lied about the events and propagated false information, and there were some that that did not.

The fact that Western media outlets cannot be blindly trusted does not mean that the Chinese state controlled media can. The Chinese state has a lot more incentive to lie about the events than independent news orgs do.

[–] nat_turner_overdrive@hexbear.net 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You should read Manufacturing Consent.

[–] LittleLordLimerick@lemm.ee -1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I have and I think that there is validity to the propoganda model.

But the propoganda model does not say that all reporting by Western media is false, only that Western media has a hidden bias. But while Western media has an underlying bias to shape a narrative that fits the interests of the wealthy, Chinese state media has an overt and explicit bias to push the narrative in a direction that fits the interests of the state.

So why would I be more skeptical of western reporting on the incident?

But while Western media has an underlying bias to shape a narrative that fits the interests of the wealthy, Chinese state media has an overt and explicit bias to push the narrative in a direction that fits the interests of the state.

Wild, when I read or watch literally any popular western media I find the bias overwhelmingly explicit and overt. It's almost like you're too deep in the propaganda to claim any perspective outside of it. thonk

you really think their bias is in your favor?

[–] aaaaaaadjsf@hexbear.net 8 points 1 year ago

My personal definition would be "authoritarian communist (or """communist""") regime supporters/apologists".

What does this actually mean? Is Nelson Mandela a "tankie" to you? You might think I'm being facetious, but I'm serious. I'll link some photographs and quotes from Mandela that a lot of the capitalists in charge want you to forget:

"I read works by and about Che Guevara, Mao Tse-tung, Fidel Castro. In Edgar Snow’s brilliant Red Star Over China I saw that it was Mao’s determination and non-traditional thinking that had led him to victory."

“The revolution in China was a masterpiece, a real masterpiece. If you read how they fought that revolution, you believe in the impossible. It’s just miraculous.”

"From its earliest days, the Cuban Revolution has also been a source of inspiration to all freedom-loving people. We admire the sacrifices of the Cuban people in maintaining their independence and sovereignty in the face of the vicious imperialist-orchestrated campaign to destroy the impressive gain made in the Cuban Revolution."

"Within that international support for our struggle the Soviet Union and other socialist countries stood out. The governments and peoples of the socialist bloc gave material, moral and political support to our struggle in a manner and on a scale that we will never be able to repay."

So again, does this make Nelson Mandela a "tankie"? If so, what does it say about "tankies " and the west, in that the so called "tankies" supported Mandela in the fight against apartheid, while the west did not. In fact, the west often supported apartheid. Even Antony Blinken admitted to that recently.

"The Soviet Union was supportive of the freedom forces in South Africa, and of course unfortunately, more than unfortunately, the United States was much too sympathetic to the apartheid regime, so that history also doesn’t get erased, you know, overnight, it's a process," Blinken said.

[–] Egon@hexbear.net 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The tianamen square protests were no actual witnesses saw anything happen and we're every alleged eyewitness have been proben to have lied? That.protest? The protest where "people were mushed up" but all fotos of the square show no such bodies (except for police officers that had been lynched by the protesters)? That protest?
The protest were the most famous video is of a guy blocking tanks who is then peacefully escorted away? https://streamable.com/unjnw9

Also define authoritarian