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What does tankie really mean at this point? (hexbear.net)

submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I keep seeing "fuck tankies" everywhere, and seem to see people getting called "tankie" for any number of things--I used to feel like I knew what it meant (the formal definition, which I thought was the only application) but that's clearly not the case anymore. Saw someone get called one because they... Liked the idea of universal basic income and wanted walkable cities? And now the same sentiment is on a large number of Lemmy communities, lol.

I feel like I've been living under a rock.

Edit: Wow, I guess it's just as meaningless of a term now as it seemed. At least it's a nice, bright flag for ghouls not worth engaging with meaningfully, lol. I saw "fuck tankies" on a genderqueer community and got pretty confused on how the two ideas correlated in the slightest, so I guess that was the tipping point on me finally asking about it.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Tankie refers to Stalinists, like the original tankie who happened to be an arch-Stalinist - Khrushchev /s

In an etymological sense, the word jumped the shark a long time ago but now it's reaching new depths of meaninglessness that it really has become a floating signifier these days.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago

I think before the Russia/Ukraine war, it meant anyone who was to the left of democratic socialism and/or supported or even just critically supported AES states. Since the war it pretty much means anyone left of center who doesn’t lock NATO boot