I have a brief moment where I ask myself "did I get sucked into an online cult? Are we (tankies) the baddies?"

I relate to this and I think this is a healthy impulse to consider. There are high-control aspects to this community, but this is true for so many commonplace activities and communities which are more socially acceptable as well. Society in general has an interest in not teaching people to recognize power dynamics as they are and to recognize high-control organizations. Because to gain the knowledge to consent to a power dynamic is to gain the conscious ability to withdraw that consent.

Personally, I take regular breaks from here as I deem it healthy and while I’m here, I’m more than happy to concede control to admins, mods, and some more active users. They work together to create an environment I enjoy. I’d liken it to the sort of control a good coach has over their team much sooner than I’d liken it to a cult. Maybe there are people for whom the control is felt more strongly, but I’d imagine that’s more related to an inability to log off or ideological differences than it is to individual injustice.