If you believe in evil, your view isn’t as nuanced as you think it is
The assumption that “tankies” (communists with an understanding of history, geopolitics and systems theory) are simply swapping one set of unthinking blanket loyalites for another out of some kind of contrarianism or intellectual laziness is itself an intellectually lazy assumption based in a lack of understanding. If I wanted to do that, I wouldn’t have had to read so many damn books. The actual truth is that the “tankie” worldview is by far the most nuanced out of all the mainstream political tendencies. It is built on dialectical and historical materialism rather than a static liberal idealism composed of floating signifiers. Rigorous analysis, critique and self-critique are built into it’s foundations. To put it simply, the liberal and western leftist understanding of the world is a static, abstract diorama drenched in the residue of christianity while the tankie understanding is a scientific machine in constant motion. When western leftists who haven’t yet examined their internalized propaganda and chauvinism say things like “just because the west is evil doesn’t mean the east isn’t” and think they’re addressing something the “tankie” actually believes, they are projecting their own lack of nuance onto the tankie.
I started this comment feeling a lot more snarky, but have ended it feeling a lot more up to the task of explaining in good faith. I’ve been exactly where you are, I’ve been you. You have not yet been me.
Two points:
If you believe in evil, your view isn’t as nuanced as you think it is
The assumption that “tankies” (communists with an understanding of history, geopolitics and systems theory) are simply swapping one set of unthinking blanket loyalites for another out of some kind of contrarianism or intellectual laziness is itself an intellectually lazy assumption based in a lack of understanding. If I wanted to do that, I wouldn’t have had to read so many damn books. The actual truth is that the “tankie” worldview is by far the most nuanced out of all the mainstream political tendencies. It is built on dialectical and historical materialism rather than a static liberal idealism composed of floating signifiers. Rigorous analysis, critique and self-critique are built into it’s foundations. To put it simply, the liberal and western leftist understanding of the world is a static, abstract diorama drenched in the residue of christianity while the tankie understanding is a scientific machine in constant motion. When western leftists who haven’t yet examined their internalized propaganda and chauvinism say things like “just because the west is evil doesn’t mean the east isn’t” and think they’re addressing something the “tankie” actually believes, they are projecting their own lack of nuance onto the tankie.
I started this comment feeling a lot more snarky, but have ended it feeling a lot more up to the task of explaining in good faith. I’ve been exactly where you are, I’ve been you. You have not yet been me.