#anti tankie

[dyspunktional-revan]

"USSR couldn't have been fascist bc it was antizionist" = "Israel cannot be fascist bc it's Jewish"

This post was made by an antizionist Jew whose family has faced discrimination and persecution in the USSR.

[aronarchy]

https://instagram.com/p/CRttLpYBGf7/

[image ID: an Instagram post by butchanarchy featuring a meme. A person shows a card that reads, “People are inherently too corrupt to govern themselves.” A second person pulls out a card that reads, “Then they’re definitely too corrupt to govern others,” defeating the first person. The text of the post discussing the image above it reads,

If you think that people are inherently unfit to govern themselves why then do you believe that a few people can be fit to govern everyone?

The only possible answer to this is “we have to put the most special/correct people in charge” and, ignoring for a moment how silly that is, how do you ensure that only those “good” people are at the helm of that massive and devastating machine you want to keep around?

Idk, seems to me to be more logical to destroy the ability for a select few to rule over others by force than to leave that capability lying around and naïvely hoping that only your most ideal perfect heroes are the ones to pick it up.

And overall if you’re really stuck on the belief that most people are just inherently corrupt/greedy/inept/etc. (I disagree) it makes even MORE sense to not build tools of domination that anyone good at selling a narrative and gaining power can take ahold of.

Laughable to me that anarchists are the ones routinely painted as hopelessly idealistic when any honest look at history and centralized power makes the “if we can just get the right people in power they’ll fix everything!” look like the most out of touch fantasy.

downbad.comrade replies, This is based af 🔥

lucifersshroud replies, “[They]’re idealists, but some special group of vanguard people will free us and never get corrupt or make bad decisions. Yeah that’ll go well.” 🙄

realkkunt replies, “Silly anarchoid, don’t you know that anarchism is idealist and never works? Also read ‘On Authority’ by Engels. Cope and seethe.” ~ some Marxist-Leninist, probably.

The post, made on July 24, 2021, has 1,558 likes.

/end image ID]

[potuzzz]

So are you one of those Western communists who assumes the USSR was great and that modern Russia is also awesome, purely because your own country is a capitalist hellhole, so it's enemies must be saints?

No my friend, I, like all Westerners, was raised to believe the USSR was a frigid starving 1984 hellscape.

I hope you will forgive the length of this, this is a good question prompt and I want to answer it as fully as I can. TLDR at bottom.

What very slowly changed my reluctant mind was slow exposure to the facts. I was a nerd and a sucker for dry information. I think this one simple study was pretty pivotal in my new understanding:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1646771/

(The third page, labeled 663, has a very nice table that sums it up nicely)

Slowly over time I learned that the USSR had better life expectancy, nutritional intake, education, healthcare, real wages, democracy, mental wellness, social mobility, and even seemingly unrelated things like culture, interpersonal relationships, and sex, when compared to the U.S. and other peer capitalist nations. All in SPITE of their dire circumstances, and the many privileges of their capitalist bandit peers. More humane prisons, less drug addiction. A more efficient and ethical economy, better technological development. Incredible strides towards uplifting ethic and national minorities oppressed under the tsarist empire. Incredible strides towards gender equality.

I do not assume the USSR was great. The simple facts illustrate this. And, likewise, all socialist countries are far better in these critical metrics when compared to capitalist peers. China especially has taken these victories even further.

After the 1991 capitalist coup and the Union's dissolution, all of these metrics SHARPLY fell in the former Soviet states. Poverty, drugs, alcoholism. Life expectancy sharply fell. Depression and misery. Capitalist Russia, while it fared better than other countries in the Eastern Bloc and in Central Asia, was by every metric immediately worse compared to Soviet Russia.

Now, this is where it gets a little spicy: Russia today has slowly but surely returned some of these metrics to their prior status ever since Putin took power.

There is a lot of bad to say about Putin, particularly his queerphobia. However, in the 2 decades he's been in power, many social safety nets of Russia, many calcified remains of the Soviet bureaucracy that were being chipped away by capitalists have been preserved or even restored. Socially, things have continued to largely decline and become reactionary. But many ordinary people in Russia enjoy cushy, dignified lives, ESPECIALLY compared to American counterparts.

Modern Russia may be capitalist, and it may have some unsightly problems, but it is leagues better than the United States, and so yes, the fact that they foil the United States on a world stage is invaluable. Yes, I would support an equally evil country foiling the United States simply on virtue that the rise and fall of empires leaves lots of room for radical change, this is plain pragmatism. But I do not find the evils of Russia even remotely comparable to the evils of the U.S. I also strongly believe in the imminent leftward potential of Russia as a country that has a precedence, nostalgic reverence for and calcified remains of a socialist system, not to mention their burgeoning relationship with China only going to further disseminate socialist ideals to combat the Nazism that leaks in from the Baltic states.

Now, to speak on other countries briefly:

As I mentioned, I would indeed critically and pragmatically support almost any entity for the short term goal of toppling and containing the U.S. Empire. There are other clearly non-socialist states, movements, individuals and other entities I support in this World War against the U.S. I went from despising the Westernized monarchy Saudi Arabia as violent, arrogant vassal of the United States to celebrating their step towards peace with the theocratic Iran, both because I always enjoy peace-making but because I think Saudi Arabia would be an excellent turncoat despite how much I dislike them and nearly everything they do. In hindsight I flirt with enjoying the Trump presidency because I truly think it accelerated the rot that is destroying this Empire whereas another Obama would have prolonged it another cycle, even though Trump was and is a terrible person, especially in power. The fascist Taliban were created BY the United States to destroy socialist Afghanistan, and yet I pinch my nose and celebrate them retaking Afghanistan in lieu of the American occupiers because it is all part of the long bloody process that will lead to a socialist Afghanistan one day soon. I am well aware of the socially conservative and otherwise reactionary views of many who, even as Useful Idiots, will play a pivotal and passionate role in toppling the US hegemony.

Yes, it is a shame. No, it is not preferable. But I believe this World War and the process of geopolitical development is incremental. There will be new challenges that arise after the death of the US Empire, I would not be surprised if for a century after its death we were still dealing with Western Wokeism and the social conservatism it creates as reaction.

One problem at a time.

` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

TLDR:

I do not assume the USSR or, to a significantly lesser degree, capitalist Russia is better than the United States; the fact is they simply were and are, by every metric.

That being said, yes, I also critically support any enemy of the United States no matter how foul, because quite simply that is the logic one must follow to win a multi-faceted war against a powerful mutual enemy such as this. I also have faith that as the US Empire dies that the natural tendency of societies to become more progressive will resume, as the US suppressed all leftward movement across the world for 30 years straight, yet the second they began losing their grip we've seen a damaged and distorted but always still alive Left resume its inevitable march in non-Western countries across the world. The big tent zero-standards anti-imperialism of today will, after more conflict and reassessment and redevelopment, become the pro-socialism of tomorrow, especially with China as the new most powerful country.

[eyeball-freak]

I think it’s a bit funny but also telling that even before I had fully grasped what a tankie was, I would interact with many of them and each time I did I would get extremely bad or uncomfortable vibes from them. The way they talked, the way they typed or the way they composed themselves, and their sense of humor, it always made me deeply uncomfortable in a way I couldn’t explain. Not sure if this was like a Slavic spider sense or if all tankies really are all just, the most rancid kind of people to the point that even if you don’t know they are one, you know that there’s something “off” about them. Either way, it’s interesting to me

[suprememayobros2]

How were gulags any less an exploitation of labour than capitalism.

[will-pilled]

“ How fucking awful… Say that to the victim’s faces”

There are no victims of communism. There are victims of governments that arose out of failed communist governments, but there are no victims of communism.

Oh, cool. The, "It's not real communisim" trope. Right.

[odinsblog]

Message to all alleged “anti-war tankies”

If you were truly anti-war, at worst you’d at least try to pretend to be neutral, and not support either side. At best, you would not be on the side of Russia, the aggressor that, unprovoked, invaded a smaller sovereign nation that was peacefully minding its own business, was not in NATO, and wasn’t even applying for NATO membership. NATO was not the cause of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

As always, I remind people that Russia is committing war crimes in Ukraine, including but not limited to: erasing all mentions of Ukraine from schoolbooks, murdering entire civilian populations of Ukrainian cities, and kidnapping thousands and thousands of Ukrainian children (some as young as 4 months old) and placing them into “re-education” centers where they are forced to learn how to become good little Russians. Russia is indiscriminately bombing civilian targets like funerals, churches, schools and hospitals, and the Russian army is using mass rape as a weapon of war.

(Remember, Ukraine has demonstrated that they have the capability to reach Russian held territory, but unlike Russia, the Ukrainian military has only targeted military installations.)

If you can just hand wave all of the Russian war crimes and atrocities away because “America bad,” then please spare everyone your anti-war concern trolling, and your faux worries about Ukrainians dying. Just admit that as long as, lol, “communist” Russia isn’t the one being invaded, you are morally indifferent to human suffering and you actually do not care about ending wars.

Russia can end the war instantly just by going home.

[klett161]

Tankies aren't Comrades

For context: I recently migrated to Tumblr and Im used to the State of Reddit where of course there where Tankie subs but it wasnt to hard too acually avoid them.

But Holy Fucking Fuck! The State of leftists Tags on this site is so fucking bad. Like you cant browse the Anticapitalist, communist or socialist Tags without seeing people praising the Soviets or China or just blatantly denying Genocides. Of course I am of the opinion that the left would be stronger If it wouldnt constantly start Infights over nothing. BUT defending Authoritarian regimes, denying Genocide, defending Imperialism(as long as it isnt USA), Warcrimes and the Overall supression of the working Class are under no circumstances part of leftist Values and we dont need these people to stand strong against the System.

If you still consider fighting side by side with these people I recommand you take a look at what happend to teh CNT-FAI during the Spanish civil war. Or the Anrchist/libertarian socialists that fought in the Russian Revolution. These people will stab you in the back or put you in to a Camp first chance they get.

If you are part of the LGBTQ community or Religious minority I recommand looking what is currently happenig to the Uyghurs in China or Russias war on the LGBTQ community.

Luckily most of these people are Keyboard warriors and dont engage with the real world.

But under any circumstances, TANKIES ARE NOT YOUR COMRADES!

[hussyknee]

Tired of running this Russian psy-op against Biden for free. Suspending operations until Putin sends my check in the mail. Can't keep giving freebies in the gig economy, even for a stand-up guy like Vladimir. I need to feed my cats.

[potuzzz]

TLDR: A good, effective communist these days should be doing everything in their power, even dirty shit, even straight up being a capitalist, to Play, and to Win, The Game here in the imperial core.

` ` `

(No longer TLDR)

` ` `

I don't even want to open the can of worms that is Caleb Maupin, but a quote from him that I deeply resonate with, and that I think all im the Western Left should resonate with, is "out of the movement, and into the masses."

Here in the United States especially, the situation is so dire that we need to put on our War Hat and prepare to (potentially drastically) reduce our moral, ideological, and ethical standards for ourselves and our comrades.

The current methods have proven disastrously ineffective.

In war, if you can afford it, absolutely you should do the right thing. You should avoid civilian casualties and critical infrastructure, you should treat POWs kindly, you should loudly and patiently give enemies a chance to surrender, to tend to their wounded, to evacuate non combatants. Etc., etc.

However, we can not afford it. The current methods have failed us. We are behind. We are losing The Game, the dog eat dog game that this world is under a capitalist hegemony.

We do not have the power to dictate the rules of engagement. That isn't to say that small acts of kindness are not important, they are, but as a matter of policy, of doctrine? Mask off today. Scorched earth if need be.

We need money, we need power, we need numbers. By any means necessary. It is that simple.

If you're a comrade, go get you some money. Go get you some power. By any means necessary.

Another favorite quote:

"Revolution is no place for silk gloves."

Every successful revolution and socialist country has had periods of great struggle, where corners both material and moral had to be cut (certainly not to the extent of their enemies, nor the propaganda their enemies painted of them).

China had a period of ideological hardline, the Cultural Revolution. It was a disaster for them! To survive to play another day, and to play the long game, they then shifted towards opportunistic and shameless Dengism. And, by following the code of Socialism By Any Means Necessary, we arrive at where they are today under Xi: implementing incredible reforms that DO speak loudly to morals and ethics, that DO spend that little extra bit of cash or time or effort, just to do THE RIGHT THING...because they can afford it NOW, only AFTER the winnings of cold and calculating Dengism.

Again, we are not our enemies, and we never will be. Even in war, communist forces universally do not commit the amount of atrocities that capitalist or especially fascist forces do. We're softies. We care about people and mark-ass shit like that. But if, in those military conflicts, these softies across time and space didn't say, "Okay, I will kill a man to protect my home and people and thus socialism. I don't have to enjoy it, but I have to do it," they would have gone extinct.

We are at war. It has been here for a long time, it is just made to be obscure and indirect. It will get hotter as time goes on. It is a Cold War right now, but the consequences in the long term will be the same.

We are at war, and I think on a global scale, the war is over. Save for something truly heinous like Nuclear Armageddon, capitalism has lost. Socialism has won. It's just a matter of waiting for the rabid dog to die, minimizing the damage as it thrashes about, and for exorcising the poison out of all the bite marks it has left across the world.

However, on a much smaller scale, such as the United States, the future is not so clearly bright. I feel like our sins are great and they will come home to roost. I feel like this limb will be in many ways amputated from the rest of the world. Oh, they're gonna build a Wall all right. Just not facing the direction US Americans think it will.

` ` `

I disagree with @txttletale here but make sure to check out this blog it's great innit.

[icedsodapop]

Romani YouTuber Florida.Florian reacting to Susan Sarandon using the word "gy*p*d" during the Blue Beetle red carpet:

This is a reminder to White leftists out there that you need to remember that you still have a lot of unlearning to do, never get complacent.

[ara-line]

Some myth busting about Israel's Eurovision participation

Do note that I use countries here when referring to participation. The term broadcasters would be more accurate since a national broadcaster chooses the entrant and the broadcaster is a member of the European Broadcasting Union, the organization behind Eurovision. But a lot of people use the term countries instead of broadcasters, hence why I'm using that word as well.

Myth 1. "Israel isn't even in Europe"

Well, any country that's part of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which Israel, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia are members of, can participate. Same goes for associate members like Australia, hence why Australia is allowed to participate. Lebanon and Morocco could also participate but choose not to because of Israel. In fact, Morocco's only participation was when Israel wasn't participating in the contest, and Lebanon planned to participate but didn't because of Israel's participation. There are rumours going around that this is also the case for Tunisia and Qatar.

Myth 2. "Eurovision banned Russia but not Israel."

Not completely true. Russia was initially going to participate in the 2022 contest, but several countries protested against Russia's participation and threatened to withdraw if Russia was allowed to participate, thus leading to them being kicked out. We will come back to this point about several countries threatening to leave.

Myth 3. "A lot of the artists speaking out about Israel could actually just withdraw from the contest to make a real statement."

You do realize the EBU actually will fine countries if they withdraw too late without good reason? I'm pretty sure a lot of these countries have contracts in place for their contestants, and since the contest is set to take place in mid May, withdrawing would mean possibly being blacklisted from the music industry and losing out on more opportunities. Not for being pro Palestine, but because they backed out on a contract they signed and left the many, many people who work behind the scenes high and dry on really short notice.

Technically not a myth but worth mentioning: 4. "Israel should be kicked out because her presence is a security risk."

Where do we even begin with this? If a country like Sweden, where the contest is being hosted, isn't able to protect its contestants from terrorist attacks, they shouldn't be hosting. It's that simple. I doubt anyone would've said this if Russia was allowed to participate in 2022.

Myth 5. "Eurovision lets Israel pinkwash its crimes."

@pauvrecamille really summed up how a lot of the discourse around pinkwashing can be boiled down to "country I hate gives their gays more rights than one I like." We could talk about how the only transgender winner is from Israel herself.

And if there is a case to be made for pinkwashing in Eurovision, I would argue that it applies more to Russia and Azerbaijan than it does to Israel. At least Israelis can criticize their government and not fear being arrested.

Speaking of Azerbaijan:

Myth 6. "If even one country withdraws from the contest, then that will send a statement to the contest."

Not true. Armenia withdrew from the 2021 contest because of the war with Azerbaijan, while Azerbaijan was allowed to participate in the contest. This is even after we already know they've cheated twice in the contest, on top of the human rights violations. And we could talk about how so many were forcibly displaced because of Azerbaijan hosting the competition in 2012.

We can also talk about how Ukraine withdrew from the contest in 2015 because of Russia's invasion. Russia was still allowed to participate and went on to place second that year.

In 2008, Russia invaded Georgia and in 2009, the Georgian entry was called "We Don't Wanna Put In" which contained veiled references to Putin's invasion. Because Russia was hosting the contest that year, the EBU tried to get Georgia to change their song. Georgia refused and ended up withdrawing.

Remember what I said about several countries threatening to withdraw if Russia was allowed to participate in 2022? It took a total of 10 countries expressing their concerns about Russia's participation and three or four threatening to withdraw if Russia was allowed to actually get the EBU to reverse course on their decision. So there's that.

EDIT: Myth 7: "People wouldn't be bullying the artists for participating in the contest if the EBU kicked Israel out."

Why am I even surprised this is a talking point?

Edit: Myth 8: "Eurovision is treating Israel differently because of the whole lyrics change situation."

I've seen this on both sides, and this is not true. I've mentioned Georgia earlier, but I also want to mention Armenia's 2015 entry, originally called Don't Deny. It was changed to Face the Shadow and allowed to compete. It's reportedly about the Armenian genocide. The point is, stuff like this happens all the time. In 2021, in the midst of protests and lack of freedom, Belarus sent a pro government band with a song containing veiled lyrics threatening to subjugate the protestors. The EBU allowed them to submit another song but ultimately, Belarus was kicked out after they still failed to follow the rules.

So no, this is not out of the norm. At least from what I know. I'm more than happy to edit this section out if I have been proven wrong. God knows I've edited this post many, many times.

Final thoughts:

A lot of the people who are all high and mighty about boycotting Eurovision would absolutely not be doing that if it was Russia participating. They certainly didn't when Azerbaijan did in 2021.

A lot of the misinformation around Eurovision this year can be chalked up to antisemitism and not understanding how contracts work. I think it's also really performative and virtue signaling at best. Yes, it's true that the postcards(clips for the broadcast while preparing for the next performer) for the 2019 contest, held in Israel, where filmed in disputed territories.

Actually, let's talk about the postcards.

You see, KAN, the Israeli broadcaster, chose not to film the postcards in territories like the West Bank. And they were criticized for it by the right wing Israeli government. So there is a true fact about something bad the Israeli government did that you can criticize them for.

Now back to the topic at hand.

Yes, it's true that Israel's lyrics were changed so they could go ahead and participate this year. It's just that now, it's really difficult to have a sane conversation about Israel in general. It's difficult to have a sane conversation about antisemitism with some people. Take this post here trying to combat antisemitism only to end up having to fight Islamophobia. Put a big F in the chat for the OP of that post, yikes.

If no one got called anti LGBT when the World Cup was held in Qatar and people still watched, I don't see why people who choose to watch Eurovision this year should be called pro genocide.

Last but not least, I want to end this on a more positive note, so this year's contest is looking really good. No one's completely sure who will take the win this year, but right now the song with the most bets to win the contest is Switzerland. It's not like 2023, where we all knew who was going to win weeks before the actual contest. So I'm interested in the outcome this year. You guys are more than welcome to throw in your own opinions on this year's caliber of songs if you want.

[sopranoentravesti]

Okay I know most tankies are operating off a spicy mix of disinformation and delusions, but it just really floors me anytime I read them romanticizing the USSR in particular. Like I know I am biased against them in particular as a Jew but one of the things that has always struck me is that… even if you fell in line and were a party loyalist, either genuinely or as a bid to keep yourself and your family safe that would not protect you. If you read about the Jewish Antifascist Committee and the Night of the Murdered Poets, you would know. If you knew about Solomon Mikhoels, after years of him being the leading actor and director of the Moscow State Yiddish Theatre and publicly supporting Stalin against Hitler and traveling the world drumming up support for the Soviets against the Nazis, only to be sent to Minsk and brutally and senselessly assassinated by Stalin’s thugs, you would know.

The Jewish Antifascist Committee , whose members signed in hopes of aiding fellow Jews in escaping the Shoah, were executed, save for Lina Shtern who was exhiled to Dzhambul (same region as Solzhenitsyn) Kazakhstan, is not only is another example of how Jews were forced to participate in their own destruction.

But also…You could go so quickly from (conditional, temporary) acceptance and even applause to your demise and being erased, on the whim of a dictator.

[miguelinileugim]

(credit to reddit's /u/Pact_of_Fuzhou-Osaka and their amazing ms paint drawing skills)