Being a person of colour, I find tankies to be ironic racists as well. They whiteknight and believe they speak for the oppressed persons of people around the world, but deny China’s encroaching in South China Sea and squatting within Philippines’ 200 nautical miles zone and bullying Vietnamese fishermen. There were occasions when I was accused of being a white Westerner keyboard warrior, and when I say I am South East Asian, and they shut up. I always turn it around to tankies and say they are probably white Westerners actually living a comfortable life and never have lived in a communist state. They deny the lived reality of people who actually experienced communism, and pretend that Europe and East Asia allowing US military bases is because of US’s strong arming, not of China’s or Russia’s (with Trump’s erratic policies, all that might change and he is a boon to both Putin and Xi).
If tankies are not bots and paid trolls, I’m convinced that they are neurodivergent in some ways because of childish behaviour and terminally online presence. I listened to an interview of a former neo-Nazi mentioned that many recruits turned out to be autistic but had been undiagnosed for many years. I imagine many tankies are also the same. The very first people that extremist groups recruit are those who are vulnerable, both mentally and emotionally, because desperation and loneliness are easy states to be manipulate someone in.
Being a person of colour, I find tankies to be ironic racists as well. They whiteknight and believe they speak for the oppressed persons of people around the world, but deny China’s encroaching in South China Sea and squatting within Philippines’ 200 nautical miles zone and bullying Vietnamese fishermen. There were occasions when I was accused of being a white Westerner keyboard warrior, and when I say I am South East Asian, and they shut up. I always turn it around to tankies and say they are probably white Westerners actually living a comfortable life and never have lived in a communist state. They deny the lived reality of people who actually experienced communism, and pretend that Europe and East Asia allowing US military bases is because of US’s strong arming, not of China’s or Russia’s (with Trump’s erratic policies, all that might change and he is a boon to both Putin and Xi).
If tankies are not bots and paid trolls, I’m convinced that they are neurodivergent in some ways because of childish behaviour and terminally online presence. I listened to an interview of a former neo-Nazi mentioned that many recruits turned out to be autistic but had been undiagnosed for many years. I imagine many tankies are also the same. The very first people that extremist groups recruit are those who are vulnerable, both mentally and emotionally, because desperation and loneliness are easy states to be manipulate someone in.