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Tankies: A Data-driven Understanding of Left-Wing Extremists on Social Media - GNET
(gnet-research.org)
this post was submitted on 10 Jun 2025
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MeanwhileOnGrad
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This kind of comment always reeks to me of "No True Scotsman". Communists and radicals are literally defined as being on the extreme left. People on Lemmy have no problem considering MAGAts rightwing (and they are) but I'm sure there are anti-Trump pure fiscal conservatives who claim that they aren't. But you don't see people defending the "right" in such a way on Lemmy.
Can't we just admit that the extreme left or extreme right are both similarly bad?
Tankies aren't meaningfully left in the same way conservatives and magats aren't meaningfully right. They completely eschew concepts of left and right that challenge their authority. They are authoritarian first. Left of right is a cosplay.
Literally the US is becoming like China and vice versa. As they both consolidate power among smaller and smaller groups.
It's almost like the political spectrum is a false dichotomy that only feeds into the us vs them narrative that is fueling conflicts all over the world.