cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/72685299
I discovered this after upgrading our instance yesterday, which also upgraded all frontends to their latest versions as well. After I did, our Tesseract frontend stopped working and I noticed immediately as it’s been my primary for a while. Initially I thought it was an API version mismatch, but no, it was much worse.
Someone pointed out that the developer of the frontend added an explicit hidden and unmodifiably blacklist which includes any and all instances to the left of Kissinger. There’s a commit which also explains their specious reasoning about our instance specifically, as it seems we’ve been on their shit list for a bit longer than that.
This instance and its admin staff encourages identity politics, groupthink, mob mentality, and extremist solutions to societal problems. Users who advocate violence are not moderated so long as the admins agree with the target. Caution and critical thinking are advised when interacting with this instance or its users.
When you use tesseract to connect to one blacklisted such instance , you just get a message informing you that Tesseract is “incompatible with that instance” which leads one to think of a technical issue, like an API mismatch, rather than the dev being an opinionated coward.
Isn’t it funny how all the software developed by turbolibs, like Piefed and Tesseract, end up with hidden control mechanisms from developers who think they know better than everyone else? That they don’t just think they deserve to tell you what you should think, but they should manipulate you to think it? Isn’t it funny how libs go on about how bad it is to support lemmy due to the ideology of the devs behind it, and yet lemmy has 0 opinions as a software? It does make one think…
Anyway, I forked - it as one does - and disabled the blacklist, but since this is a massively ideologically compromised software, I’ll doubt I’ll keep this frontend up after Lemmy 1.0. I think we’ll bring up mlmym again now that someone’s maintaining it again.
Tankies specifically. Not all leftists are tankies, stop pretending otherwise
If I were to give my own definition of what constitutes a tankie, I’d say it’s anyone who defends existing socialist states, past or present. Those socialist states are generally understood to be the USSR, PRC, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, DPRK, GDR, etc. The defense tankies give is not in accepting both bourgeois historiography as accurate but justified, but instead in directly combatting bourgeois historiography. Tankie is also a pejorative for these people, used to convey the strawman of the person that believes the lies of the Red Scare but believes them to be justified.
In that case, I am definitely a tankie. I spend a good deal of time talking about socialism both past and present, and arguing for how we can expand that movement and carry it to the future. I am definitely a defender of socialist states, I just don’t believe the common allegations such as “100 million were killed by communism” are at all accurate. I don’t think you’ll find someone who believes the 100 million number but also thinks it’s good and justified.
It’s also useful to understand it in this manner because it explains why even anarchists and liberals are called “tankie.” The throughline about defending existing socialism is the central identifier of a tankie, and the use of tankie to dismiss those who defend socialism as it exists in the real world is also covered by this understanding.
“If I use a different definition than what everyone else uses I can bend it to my beliefs”
This is why you tankies aren’t liked by a lot of people.
Authleft are tankies, it’s VERY simple.
The definition I gave is the one that makes the most practical sense, and is a better identification for a group we both know exists. It’s why anarchists and liberals are often also called tankies from time to time, and it’s situational, it relates directly to support for existing socialist states. Further, tankies are liked by billions. China is seen very positively around the world, especially by its own people. Even in the US, the Black Panther Party is one of the most beloved political parties in history. Tankies are rising in popularity, not decreasing.
You say that “authleft” is simple for describing tankies, but how does that account for the anarchists and liberals that people call tankie? Is your point that all of them are secretly “authleft?” Further, what is authleft, just support for socialism with a state? If so, then the vast majority of the left is unquestionably “tankie,” leaving only the anarchists as non-tankie leftists. Further, it again erases the anarchists and liberals called tankie!
Your definition is wrong and clearly being used to shift the meaning of a long-defined word. Which is some classic tankie shit.
If you’re actually stupid enough to be serious asking this then oof, lol.
How is the definition I gave wrong? You keep stating this but offer no actual explanation. Further, again, you dodge my question regarding anarchists and liberals called “tankies” for supporting socialist states, and just call me stupid for doing so. Why can’t you answer? I can’t imagine this attitude is useful for your real life organizing efforts, assuming you do actually organize.
Google’s right there AND I defined it already. You’re pretty stupid, eh?
How dare I keep the conversation on topic, right?
I really don’t care if you two want to argue all week, but be respectful and don’t call names or I’ll have to take action.
Didn’t call anyone names, called a stupid person stupid. Keep up, simple shit
You didn’t explain how I’m wrong, though. You’ve not yet engaged with what I said. If we are going strictly by dictionary definitions, then it would only apply to British communists that supported suppressing the Hungarian counter-revolt, and I’m not British so I can’t be a tankie by that definition. Every other definition beyond that original one is an attempt to understand how it is used colloquially, since it has clearly broadened in scope, and I answered that well in my opinion.
Gave you the definition of the word. That’s all you should need if you can read
Because I’m not an idiot who falls for tankie bullshit. Keep on topic: tankie isn’t a replacement word for leftists and never has been.