Shrugging off extremist views as “just a political opinion” that should be ignored if you don’t like it is like the #1 way to normalize and spread extremist views. You do not, and should not, politely ignore extremist. Doing so is explicitly allowing and inviting more into your community. Tankies can fuck off and I will continue to say so.
Well, the way I see it is that tankies are pretty much a minority without any power in the west, and, at least the ones I’ve seen around here, aren’t actively organising any sort of violent revolutionary behaviour or anything … which means their views tend to always be critiques of the powerful western governments and mainstream cultures form the perspectives of minorities, and often in ways that many in the mainstream find unpalatable, and therefore unconvincing. So, even if “extreme” (whatever you mean by that exactly) in some way, it’s a “punching up” kind of “extreme” that I’m open minded to hearing, however agreeable or disagreeable I tend to find their opinions.
Do you really think tankies are convincing? This thread, at least, indicates otherwise. So much “extremism” are they going to be spreading? IMO, the sort of “extremism” much more likely to spread is the sort of stuff driven by hate of some sort of “other” weaker and smaller than the mainstream as a scapegoat, not least because it’s more amenable to the worldview(s) of the larger and more powerful majority.
The “extremist views” I’m talking about is the support for authoritarian regimes that use draconian laws and excessive military force to enforce the law. Tankies often do support the subjugation of people they deem “lesser”, but unlike extremist on the far right, they often keep that part quiet.
The fact that you’re downplaying the extremity of Tankie talking points is a perfect example of how they are able to normalize their opinions by being allowed a voice in groups where their opinions should be shunned and shamed.
This is a great breakdown of the exact thing I’m talking about.. The video focuses on these tactics and how they are used by the alt-right, but this is not something exclusive to the right and is exactly what tankies are doing on lemmy.
