this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2025
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MeanwhileOnGrad

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"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, rather than engaging in unrelated arguments.

Brigading — If you're here because this community was linked in another thread, please refrain from voting, commenting or manipulating the post in any way, this includes alt accounts. All votes are public, and if you are found to be brigading, you will be permanently banned.

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.


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@hydrashok@sh.itjust.works

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[–] Resonosity@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 3 days ago

I lean socialist, but yeah fuck this. Ukraine should be liberated as much as Palestine, Nepal, and the Philippines. Fuck authoritarian simps.

The ONLY conflict that should concern us all is the class conflict.

If so called "leftists" think that solidarity doesn't extend to their favorite oppressed people, then they aren't leftists. They are fascists in disguise who associate with an in-group juxtaposed against an out-group. Leftists must realize that EVERYONE is part of the in-group, even fascists themselves. For if their material lives were well nourished and enriched, they wouldn't feel the need to hate.

Now, I have heard that there has been and may still be corruption in the Ukrainian government. That corruption doesn't give permission for other countries to invade and take over, though. If anything, internal affairs should be dealt between the opposing sides PEACEFULLY and DEMOCRATICALLY. If things do come to violence, those internal seeking to restore a democratic system of government should be supported more by those external than the opposing side of corruption.

[–] Wolf@lemmy.today 14 points 3 days ago (3 children)

I wish people would stop referring to Tankies and authoritarian regimes as leftists. If we stop entertaining the hallucination that they are- then maybe places like Wikipedia will start labeling them correctly as right wing.

From the very beginning of the terms "Left" and "Right" to describe the political spectrum, which originated in pre-revolutionary war France, the Left has always been about freedom from Tyranny and the Right has been pro-government (ruling class) control.

Maybe the USSR did start out as revolutions of the proletariat, but once they were controlled by increasingly authoritarian leadership, that should have flipped them from left to right on the political spectrum. In a sane world that's exactly what would have happened. Guess who's best interests it was to mislabel the USSR, the PRC and the DPRK as 'Leftists'? Ill give you one guess. If you said capitalists and the right wing in Western democracies- That's a bingo! And of course they are going to label themselves as 'left wing'. To admit otherwise would be to expose the whole lie. So in a weird example of cold war cooperation between the East and West, that fiction has continued.

The only reason that Communism and Socialism were correctly labeled as 'Left' ideologies in the first place is because, implemented correctly, they both offer less control by the 'ruling class'. Socialism was meant to return the power to the people, and communism was meant to abolish the state completely. Authoritarian regimes run counter to both those goals. You will NEVER abolish the state by strengthening the state. That makes about as much sense as 'trickle down economics'. Hey maybe if we give the billionaires all the money, they'll give us a little back in return. Spoiler alert, no they wont.

/rant

[–] vga@sopuli.xyz 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

From the very beginning of the terms “Left” and “Right” to describe the political spectrum, which originated in pre-revolutionary war France, the Left has always been about freedom from Tyranny and the Right has been pro-government (ruling class) control.

This got complicated however in early 1900s with political philosophers like Friedrich Hayek and others, after which Right can have meant liberalism and as such also anti-government.

[–] Wolf@lemmy.today 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Well, "Liberalism" is further left than say Monarchism or Feudalism, but it believes in "private property" (as opposed to Personal Property) as one of it's core values- and as such is compatible with Capitalism, especially "Economic Liberalism" and Neoliberalism, which are right wing ideologies. It replaces 'monarchs' with 'wealthy people' as the ruling class. Anarchists such as myself tend to use "Private Property" as equivalent to the "Means of production". In my view 'Personal Property' need not necessarily be 'movable' to count. For example your private domicile could be a permanent structure, but if it's used to live in and not make things in- it's Personal Property.

When Right wingers talk about being 'anti-government', they don't mean it in the literal sense. They mean they don't want the government telling THEM what to do, but are fine with the government telling everyone else what to do. They want unrestricted capitalism, and the 'freedom' to be hateful white supremacist and misogynistic bigots. But they also use the power of 'The State' to defend their "private property rights". If there were no state- they wouldn't be free to exploit people. Capitalism requires a state.

When it comes to small/"anti" government Republican politicians, it's typically a misnomer and used to exploit the 'anti-government' sentiment in their base. For example George W. Bush ran as a "Small Government Republican" and then proceeded to grow the government bigger than any president in U.S. History.

I would put Liberalism and "Small Government" republicans further left than authoritarian "Socialist" regimes.

I think a rational "Left-Right Spectrum" would look something like (from left to right)

Anarchism, Communism, Socialism, Social Democracy, "Centrists", Liberal Democracy, Neo-conservatism, Authoritarian "Socialism", Monarchism/Feudalism/Imperialism, Fascism.

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[–] ilost7489@lemmy.ca 33 points 3 days ago (26 children)

I got banned from .ml because I said China and North Korea were oppressive regimes. Apparently that means I am a “fascist sympathizer”

[–] TheObviousSolution@lemmy.ca 11 points 3 days ago

They are going by the MAGA definition.

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[–] MushuChupacabra@lemmy.world 153 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (52 children)

I never heard of tankies until I got to lemmy.

The first thing that I ever saw from them was a meme about how Joseph Stalin had very little in the way of material things when he died, despite the position he held.

And I was like Bitch, I care about Stalin's earthly possessions in the exact same way that I care about Hitler's painting with watercolors skill set.

This got me thinking about my western canadian upbringing through the back half of the Cold War. A steady stream of western indictrination and perspective. I recall zero words spoken about Joseph Stalin's personal life or spending habits.

So who the fuck was that meme aimed at? Who is out there, just wanting to love Stalin, but can't on account of thinking he lived in opulence? Who is out there heaping scorn on Stalin for what he owned or didn't?

That's when I realized that tankies are just a combination of Flat Earthers/Sovereign Citizens. It’s all bullshit, and the point is to be exceedingly difficult to talk to.

[–] cm0002@piefed.world 59 points 4 days ago (37 children)

There are actually plenty of tankies on Reddit, but with Reddit you have to pretty much seek it out because of the massive user base

Legend goes that dessalines actually started Lemmy because their Reddit main got perm banned because he went a lil too tankie

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[–] CheesyFox@lemmy.sdf.org 26 points 4 days ago (3 children)

I too, have never heard of tankies before joining lemmy.

Imagine my surprise, when i, a guy from a post-soviet country, where the fans of soviets are endangered species, see them all fanboying over dictators of the past century over here lol

[–] drmoose@lemmy.world 21 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

The best part they're from countries that never even remotely experienced soviet horrors. The lead tankies are from Netherlands and many other appear to be from flyover states of the US lol

and obvious it's invaded by ruzi bots

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[–] teslasaur@lemmy.world 13 points 3 days ago

There is a funny story about the real currency of power that involves Stalin. The story goes that Stalin and his party officials came upon a beggerwoman on the side of the road. She asked them if they could spare some money. In a rare moment of generosity from Stalin he went for his wallet, only to find it empty. He asked the officials if they had any money, but all of their purses sounded empty.

Those in power do not need money, as everything they ever want will be given to them.

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[–] madjo@feddit.nl 26 points 3 days ago

Slava Ukraini! Go fuck yourself, .ml tankies

[–] spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works 24 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

I had no idea so much of lemmy.ml was run and populated by a bunch of paid Russian agents and their useful idiots. One guy had only been on Lemmy for a couple of months and had already posted hundreds of propaganda pieces from Russian state sponsored new sources. Another poster specialized on propaganda from other sources but was just as prolific.

lemmy.ml is the toilet of Lemmy.

[–] vga@sopuli.xyz 2 points 2 days ago

Lemmy is open, and that unfortunately means that it's easy and cheap to abuse.

[–] drmoose@lemmy.world 26 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

People should really be more upset with lemmy.ml - it's such a shit stain on the entire fediverse :(

[–] goat@sh.itjust.works 54 points 4 days ago
[–] ImgurRefugee114@reddthat.com 43 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Lol I just got banned from deprogram for saying the Xi pooh meme wasn't inherently racist and that people used as a form of mockery of an authoritarian leader... Some idiot actually tried to argue "do you call all heads of state authoritarians or just communists?" Like bro, the only reason I don't call myself a communist is because I think it doesn't go far enough...

But they don't actually care about communism as a project or theory or even the people it claims to empower; they just want the boot to be on the other foot.

[–] goat@sh.itjust.works 29 points 4 days ago

It's funny considering the meme originated by the Chinese.

Hm, is this meme making fun of Xi trying to appear tough?

No, the Chinese must have made a racist caricature of being Chinese!

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[–] HexesofVexes@lemmy.world 11 points 3 days ago (4 children)

I mean, I blocked the instance because a lot of the content is just ragebait, historical revisionism, or just plain nonsense.

Best option is to ignore them, let them fester, then watch the inevitable infighting as they factionalise with some popcorn.

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[–] MourningDove@lemmy.zip 25 points 4 days ago

I mean…. They don’t hide who and what they are.

[–] hunnybubny@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 3 days ago (11 children)

Their whole identity is being built around fighting nazis. And bringing back traditional values.

Just like conservative values are being brought back to fight wokness.

Just like israel has to eradicate Palestine.

Just like nazis had to exterminate the jews.

It is all fascism.

Tankies are fascists that deluded themselves into thinking they are lefties.

[–] blarth@thelemmy.club 15 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Are we still pretending .ml and hexbear aren’t almost exclusively fronts for Russian propaganda?

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 7 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

BRICS as a whole

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