“Tankie” is a word that originates from British communist circles in the 50s. It was used by communists who opposed the Soviet invasion of Hungary to derisively describe their comrades who supported the invasion. Photos in the British newspapers and such showed a lot of imagery Soviet tanks rolling through Budapest, hence “tankie”.

So, it has its origins as a silly sounding, incredibly niche, bit of British slang. It faded into obscurity after this, but got picked up again by leftists on the internet as a way of poking fun at each other. It’s a funny sounding word and all. At a certain point over the last decade or so, it’s breached containment, and liberals, especially here on Lemmy, love to throw it around without really having a firm idea what they mean by it. I’ve seen everyone from Marxist-Leninists, to Anarchists, to liberal Pro-palestian activists, all called “Tankies”.

OP is using the term here to poke fun at that vague liberal usage. As many liberals, at least here on Lemmy, would look at the calculus of, “US foreign policy is more erratic and dangerous than that of China” and declare it a “tankie” talking point, or “simping for authoritarianism”, as though making an observation about different nation’s foreign policy approaches says anything else about ones opinions of those states other policies or actions.

You can also find an audiobook of this on torrents and youtube.

Im a simple person, i see a losurdo mention so i just instantly upvote.

And here I thought liberals loved choosing the lesser evil, smh

Do you really think that your arguments are somehow well thought out points and don’t scream propagandist mill?

I think you guys never have a compelling response to them and always, 100% of the time, end up saying some version of “These are the Bad Guy Ideas and I don’t have to entertain them, because you are self-evidently Bad Guys and also mentally ill.”

this makes me so happy you got the orange man, I hope he drags you all to hell ASAP where you belong

Westoid says what?

Sometimes I’m thankful for Americans such as yourself. You don’t actively harm American imperialist interests, but you refuse to learn anything about China beyond what the state department of US tells you. So you never even reach a stage where you can critically analyse why your country’s systems are failing while China is rapidly going up, and will soon be the global hegemon (with a track record far better than the US)

You refuse to see the pitfalls of neoliberalism, and that is how you accelerate the US’ implosion. My only hope is it accelerates even further and doesn’t drag down other countries with itself

Sometimes I wish my instance had downvotes so I could give them to posts like this

What point are you trying to make? A country that commits some of the most heinous atrocities in recent history and has serious flaws in their society like racism and inequality does NOT get to dictate and police others on these matters, especially in matters of morality. It’s completely ironic and hypocritical and not to mention reeks of chauvinism.

Vague posting

Citations Needed podcast:
Whataboutism - The Media’s Favorite Rhetorical Shield Against Criticism of US Policy

Since the beginning of what’s generally called ‘RussiaGate’ three years ago, pundits, media outlets, even comedians have all become insta-experts on supposed Russian propaganda techniques. The most cunning of these tricks, we are told, is that of “whataboutism” – a devious Soviet tactic of deflecting criticism by pointing out the accusers’ hypocrisy and inconsistencies. The tu quoque - or, “you, also” - fallacy, but with a unique Slavic flavor of nihilism, used by Trump and leftists alike in an effort to change the subject and focus on the faults of the United States rather than the crimes of Official State Enemies.

But what if “whataboutism” isn’t describing a propaganda technique, but in fact is one itself: a zombie phrase that’s seeped into everyday liberal discourse that – while perhaps useful in the abstract - has manifestly turned any appeal to moral consistency into a cunning Russian psyop. From its origins in the Cold War as a means of deflecting and apologizing for Jim Crow to its braindead contemporary usage as a way of not engaging any criticism of the United States as the supposed arbiter of human rights, the term “whataboutism” has become a term that - 100 percent of the time - is simply used to defend and legitimizing American empire’s moral narratives.

Someone in the comments on [the other site] called me a tankie for arguing that the USA has done way worse things than China in recent history, which prompted the meme. Apparently China shooting missiles into Taiwan waters is just as bad as the US bombing schoolgirls or something.

It’s not even between Russia and USA, the only people who see Russia as a bigger threat are Europeans. Even Americans now realize they’re the baddies.

Can you give examples? Both for war crimes as well as examples of imperialism?

Oh, wow. Baited someone that argues about where Rus culture was born 1000 years ago and its relevance to modern events.

Couldn’t have asked for a better example of chauvinism.