!asklemmy@lemmy.ml - ARE YOU A TANKIE? - informal poll results ~ 2025
😱
This process was undertaken to determine if so-called “tankies” are conspiring to make you (yes, you) have a bad time on the internet!
vague or informal answers were interpreted by the central authority (me). Only top level comments were counted. I did not provide further instructions or clarifications.
spoiler
A ridiculous question. “Tankie” isn’t a term anyone self-identifies with, it’s mostly a term used by liberals to hurl at anyone to the left of them or anyone who agrees with western foreign policy. The survey results will be as meaningless as the term “tankie” itself.
^ wish I’d remembered to include that in the new “poll”, there was a lot of confusion in the comments!
Image description: various pie charts and text, indicating the results of an informal poll from lemmy.ml, full results in spoiler
spoiler
@hexbear.net 4
@lemmy.libertarianfellowship.org 1
@lemmy.ml 8
@lemmy.world 1
@lemmy.zip 1
@lemmygrad.ml 2
Total Yes 17 (38.6%)
@feddit.org 1
@feddit.uk 2
@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1
@lemmy.ca 1
@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1
@lemmy.ml 8
@lemmy.world 3
@lemmy.zip 2
@lemmygrad.ml 1
@pawb.social 1
@piefed.social 1
@sh.itjustworks 2
@thebrainbin.org 1
Total No 27 (61.4%)
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didn't think to actually include the year on year comparison, so it's below.
yes no total
2024 24 20 44
2025 17 27 44
whole website's gone to the dogs if you ask me 🐶
results from this thread Archived
Link to previous results (very serious) hexbear / lemmy,ml
Link to previous “are you a tankie?” thread
thanks for playing, see you next time 😎
I’m old and give a fuck what other people in social networks are
Ah, my eyes!
I sure have a hard time understanding this graph, so, thanks tankies!
might need to wake up a little bit
I am a tankie dedicated to making Lemmy hell for other tankies
Thank you for your service
The graphic has 2 hexbears saying no, but the results breakdown doesn’t include them. This is tankie propaganda.
let’s bump these numbers up
What’s a tankie? Is that someone who plays World of Tanks? Because I play that game sometimes. Or is it fans of the comic Tank Girl? Or…just tanks in general? Think tanks, aquarium tanks etc?
I never got into comics but I fucking loved the Tank Girl movie. It might still be on prime video - i just watched it again like a week or two ago
It’s essentially a pejorative for “communist.” I recommend the Prolewiki article on “Tankies,” as well as Nia Frome’s essay “Tankies.”
For those that want an introduction to Marxism-Leninism, I made an introductory Marxist-Leninist reading list, check it out!
So originally it was used to refer to hardline communists by the critics of the USSRs suppression of the Hungarian revolution in the 50s. It’s now used to refer to more authoritarian sects of communism, and has been adopted by some of these authoritarian communists to refer to themselves. You can read more here.
As recently declassified CIA documents show, Hungarian ‘revolution’ was a CIA regime change op all along. It’s the OG attempt at a color revolution.
https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/2025/0318/104-10110-10525.pdf
Ignoring the origins of the term, ie putting down the fascist counter-revolution where nazis were let out of jail and they were lynching communist officials and jewish people, marking their doors, etc, it’s now used for all strains of communist.
The idea that there are “non-authoritarian” communists is a bit silly. All Marxists believe the state is nothing more than the tool of class oppression, and that it should be the workers in charge of it until it withers away after full collectivization of production and distribution. The question with states isn’t if they are authoritarian, but which class is wielding its authority. Marxists support the working class wielding its authority.
Even the British communists that took the incorrect line by opposing the USSR’s crushing of the fascist counter-revolution in Hungary would be considered authoritarian, and called “tankies” today. They still supported a working class state, which can only be authoritarian as all states are means by which one class asserts its authority over others.
I recommend the Prolewiki article on “Tankies,” as well as Nia Frome’s essay “Tankies.” Wikipedia’s article on “tankies” is going to give a non-Marxist view, moreover a historical usage, without actually delving into what it means in practice.
Finally, there’s no such thing as “tankie” ideology. It’s all Marxism of some branch, communists often call themselves “tankies” in the same way we call ourselves “commies,” absorbing the pejorative to weaken its effect.
So you say that there are no “non-authoritarian” communists. I guess I take a slight issue with this. Just because a lot of historical communist states have become one party dictatorships doesn’t mean that all of them have to be. I don’t see why you couldn’t have a communist state with democratic values, separation of powers, and plurality. Even if you believe that the state is the sole authority and does have authority to do things, it doesn’t mean it can’t have a concept of inalienable or unenumerated rights which the state can’t take away.
Sure you can say that the working class has authority in a communist state. But that’s somewhat of a transitory period isn’t it? Eventually that society over time becomes classless, and then everyone must be represented to avoid autocracy.
I think you misunderstand, existing socialist states are and have been comprehensive unitary socialist democracies, rather than multi-party, competitive liberal democracies. The latter idea of plurality is one that is specifically capitalist, in a worker-centric democracy you don’t need society working against itself, but together, cooperating. They have all been dictatorships of the working class against the bourgeoisie. I think you’re running into the issue of imagining a society and thinking said society would work, but to the contrary historical experience shows that it’s far more important for people to drive policy than to pick parties.
And yes, eventually, the state will wither as class conflict dies. The only way for that to happen, though, is full collectivization of production and distribution along a common plan. Until then, a state is necessary, as you can’t eliminate the basis of private property with the stroke of a pen.
we also can’t ignore that it’s being used as a pejorative by (some) liberals to mean anyone to the left of joe biden
like ffs ive seen anarchists be called tankies
But that’s Americans. Not exactly the smartest people, but definitely full of themselves.
There obviously are very smart Americans around but they are in the minority.
It’s also Europeans that do that, though. I’ve seen it happen, especially from nationalists from Europe.
Sounds an awful lot like what a tankie would say
