"don't blame the state officials that direct the propaganda and line their pockets with the spoils of war, blame the conscripted teenagers"
He's the one who gives his body as a weapon of the war...
Most people will do terrible things if pushed hard enough. I'm lucky that I haven't been pushed - I'm not confident that I would have enough strength to resist. Nonetheless moral agency cannot be abnegated.
True evil is the not the one pulling the trigger, but the one forcing him to do so. The masters of war, so to say.
Nah there’s like 10 people who downvote every post here on sight. I doubt it has anything to do with with my specific post. But maybe that’s just my wishful thinking.
I could go on for a long while about this if you like but the short version is that they’ve been convinced that destroying US hegemony in any respect is a net world positive and a step towards true communism. If the slave king Fallowind were to rise up in Missouri and lobotomize every man woman and child, there would still be voices of approval. Hyperbole aside, check lemmygrad after any atrocity that negatively impacts the US to see what I mean.
But that... is so obviously the wrong way to think about communism... wtf is wrong with these people? Imperialism is okay if it bothers the worst imperialist?
Their community is relatively small and thus easily influenced towards relevant novel ideas, so many suspect Russia/China boosted divisive trains of thought. Radicalized communists are geopolitical positives. I just think tankies are loonies.
Cards on the table, I'm something of a communist myself (anarchist leanings), but this train of thought doesn't make sense to me. I believe you, but I'm shocked such people exist.
I thoight tankie was just a pejorative for ML types, who I'm not necessarily opposed to, unless they try to say Stalin did nothing wrong. The USSR was a noble project, but Stalin was emblematic of the revisionist nonsense they ended up with. It's sad that some people don't see that.
You would be surprised how few radicals it takes to boost the crazy voices and produce a faux consensus. Always double-check information and assume people are liars on the internet or you may eventually find something convincing. Especially me, I’m probably a liar. Statistically.
Yeah, that's the thing - it's somewhat of a leftist tradition to read everything with a critical lens, lest it be biased or misinformation. "Ruthless criticism of all that exists", in Marx's own words. Criticism AND self criticism are core components of Marxism.
Baffling posers, those tankies.
