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The term Tankie has a clear definition that Cowbee likes to ignore:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tankie Tankie is a pejorative label generally applied to authoritarian communists, especially those > who support or defend acts of repression by such regimes, their allies, or deny the > occurrence of the events thereof.
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Yep, and to be clear, I normally default to "tankie just means someone who supports existing socialism." They don't even need to be ideologically socialist to be labeled a tankie. In that specific interaction I was trying to lead it in that direction, to see where they thought the divide actually was and then bring it to what I believe it actually is, a pejorative for someone that supports existing socialism, not just theoretical.
Yeah that's another good way to put it but I don't think it's a requirement. I've seen anarchists that don't support any existing socialism get hit with it because they oppose liberals or liberal policy in some way. A lot of them really do just use it for anyone to their left. Like, "do you support hamas?" "yes" "you're a tankie then" has been an interaction I have seen anarchists experience.
Yep, that's fair too! I tried to broaden it beyond dedicated socialists because even liberals that oppose imperialism get hit with the label, but it's even more nebulous than that.