I don't like spending this much time arguing against campism but they just keep talking at me.
this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2026
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No, while the term "tankie" is used diversely, and some probably use it as you described, the essence of the term is simply a supporter of old school authoritarian "communism". Think Marxist-Lennist ideologies as experienced under and in the post-Stalin soviets. Tankies love to downplay N Korea's crimes, as if if denouncing both South and North political establishments is impossible.
No, the essence of the term is "bad leftist" - it has outgrown its historical context.
The majority of discussions about "tankies" are about leftists that refuse to vote in an approved manner: anarchists are "tankies" according to social democrats, social democrats are "tankies" according to liberals, etc etc. You use it to mean "leftist that supports Marxist-Leninism" but that just isn't how its used by the majority of people. For the majority it's just a snarl word.
It is your choice to fall for and participate in bourgeois language abuse.