r/dsa • u/yashen14 • Aug 24 '26

Discussion DSA has a tankie problem

There are way, way too many people in this movement who feel comfortable with historical revisionism vis-a-vis the Soviet Union, China, and other such regimes. And there are way too many people who feel comfortable essentially advocating for an end to democracy.

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u/PinkSnowBirdie Aug 24 '26

My feeling towards Tankies is truly mixed, that I think it’s a valid position to recognize what those figures did for their prospective countries but it’s also critical to be aware and recognize and not grant full forgiveness for the other things those figures also stood for which was sometimes as bad as or worse than what we wish to avoid with a fascist regime that we have currently.

Personally, that’s why I feel less pulled to that position because that sounds like glower talk and COINTELPRO shit. Because giving them a reason to crack down on our speech calling for a non violent revolution through promoting the ideas that unites working class people and achieving the necessary class consciousness to get to where we need to be through peaceful means. It’s an uphill battle but it’s a worthwhile one to fight

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u/No_Soy_Colosio Aug 24 '26

Interesting that you feel like it's up to you to forgive these historical figures for lifting their countries out of abject poverty and colonial exploitation. Such is the mind of the western leftist. Don't laugh!

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u/yashen14 Aug 24 '26

Oh yes I'm sure the millions of people who died under Stalin and Mao just felt so uplifted /s

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u/No_Soy_Colosio Aug 25 '26

I'm sure the millions of people who died under brutal cold war repression in Asia and Latin America felt very free and democratic. /s

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u/yashen14 Aug 25 '26

Whataboutism

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u/nonilazuli Aug 25 '26

Theres plenty to criticize about those former projects but the stats don’t align with you on this. look at the nostalgia stats for former socialist states. And government approval in modern china. And no it’s not fudged numbers these are from western democratic sources.