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Anti-Imperialism means recognizing capitalist states like Russia and China as such
(lemmy.dbzer0.com)
this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2026
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"We can talk about socialized healthcare and the evils of capitalism all day, but before we go any further I need you to pass this two-factor authentication by criticizing China and Russia."
"Have you condemned Hamas today?"
This comment is so real it hurts.
I just had someone trying to convince me that Russia can't be imperialist because they oppose the US, an imperialist nation.
... that's not the definition of "imperialist," my dear tankie.
Not sure if linking it so others can laugh/cry is "brigading" worthy of getting me banned off of various Lemmy communities/instances or not.
Fuck it, here's the thread:
https://lemmy.world/comment/25044062
What a mind-bogglingly stupid thing to say
I needed a good laugh.
Never heard the word "irredentism" before, looked it up. It's literally fascist logic. Do tankies seriously not realize that the logical endpoint of irredentism is a world made up exclusively of ethnostates?
If you actually read what the person was saying, they said:
Marxists tend to use a specific definition of imperialism, and that user's position is that while Russia does engage in irredentism (bad), like invading Ukraine, they do not fit the Marxist definition of imperialism (which is more concerned with resource extraction on a global scale). This Marxist definition goes back at least to Lenin, so it isn't something that they just made up (as they were accused of in the thread), but the common meaning today is different.
This is being misinterpreted or distorted here into, "Russia's invasion of Ukraine is fine because it's irredentism" which was very clearly not what they were saying. What they were saying is that irredentism is bad (including the war in Ukraine), but that it is a distinct thing from imperialism.
If they're going with a niche definition rather than the common definitions everyone uses, they should have stated that to prevent the confusion and argument that it seeded, as I said further down in the argument.
I actually agree with you on that. However, "being too prone to using Marxist definitions and terminology" does not warrant labelling them as a "tankie" or "Russian propagandist."
It's this sort of thing that makes me see every accusation of "tankie" as a complete joke. If you can literally say, word for word, "I do not support the Russian invasion of Ukraine" and still get called a tankie and Russian propagandist, then those words have no meaning, aside from, "You disagreed with a liberal about literally anything."
Did their condemnation of Russia not give you a moment's pause before dismissing them as a Russian propagandist and misrepresenting their positions to others afterwards? It seems like you just recognized that they're not part of your political in-group so you ignore everything and jump straight to labelling them a fascist. Yes, they communicated in a way that's somewhat confusing, but you're much more at fault for jumping to those unwarranted accusations.
It's more or less exactly the content of this post here. Literal Russian propaganda, I'm sure. Couldn't confirm 100% because I don't waste my precious time checking what Russia has to say about their invasion, but I'm sure the term/topic of "irredentism" comes up and never "invasion" or "genocide."
Irredentism is a negative word, nobody would use it in their own propaganda to describe their own actions. Furthermore, the user you were talking to clearly and explicitly condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine:
You seem to have misunderstood what they were saying, and the idea that they're spouting "literal Russian propaganda" while explicitly condemning the invasion, and labelling it an invasion, is completely absurd.
I guess that's why you felt the need to pretend they didn't label it as an invasion. I do wish y'all would practice a slightly higher degree of intellectual honesty though.
but that's not even what this post is suggesting we do. It's just recognizing that China and Russia are also imperialist states, so we should be mindfull of where the information we consume comes from, since they're all shoving propaganda down our throats and pitting us against one another, for their own imperialist intentions.
Bedrock based
"We can talk about socialized healthcare and the evils of capitalism all day, but before we go any further I need you to pass this two-factor recognizing that the US's military/prison industrial complex has done more harm to the world since WWII than China Russia and Iran."
Yes actually
This but unironically
Ah yes, let's complain when people post factual memes about countries that both commit genocide, and are both heavily invested in destabilizing western governments
I take it you're one of those "free" thinkers too?
How hard is it to recognize that, yes, the US is fucking evil, yes, always has been, but that the exact same goes for Russia and China? Ooohh, what a concept, multiple parties being evil? *brain explodes
Anything's possible when you make shit up
I can't tell if this is directed at me or a hypothetical conversation with a tankie.
I'm 90% sure they're directing it at a hypothetical tankie.
The concept of having more then two parties does indeed stupify the liberal mind.
For the haters, the limit is one.
There will be no third party. The bank rolled two party system needs two bags of dildos and they will stop at nothing to crush any change from the bottom. The third party will be split between two optically moderates from both parties as plants. The stank yanks got amnesia... talking out both sides of the mouth unable to balance their contradictions. It is agonizing to watch since I share their inheritance.
Jesus Christ can you at least write like a normal person? Why can't Americans just admit that their country suck and leave it at that?
It's a good question. Because our land is beautiful and a lot of us are working to keep it that way. Because we still see lots of people trying to come here for a better life. There are much fewer now, and a lot of us have deep shame for what the asshole in power has done to their communities. Despite appearances, a lot of us respect and admire them for taking the hard, unwanted jobs that nevertheless still need to get done. We still believe in what the Statue of Liberty stands for despite anything the asshole tries to do to it. Yes, we functionally conquered the world when we became the sole superpower after the Soviet Union fell apart. But we also led the world with science, inventions, entertainment, and aid. That's lost now, and a lot of us deeply resent everyone who had a hand in ruining that.
We are still working to make ourselves better.
Oh. So it's because you haven't studied history. Got it.
Read your words. You are trying to reclaim a lost position of "goodness" for the USA, that was lost through the bad actions of bad people. You are trying to reclaim the position of helping the world, being a beautiful country that respects others and is welcoming.
We call that "Blue MAGA". You're imagining a time before the Rs fucked everything up and trying to move "forward" to reclaim the position of "good".
The USA was never good. Not only did FDR put anyone vaguely asian looking into concentration camps, the administration stole all of their commercial property and wealth. Not only that, but the FDR administration established the entirety of racial redlining. The USA has been at war for >90% of its existence, and half of the years it wasn't at war, it was engaged in the massive chattel slavery and maintenance of the genocide of indigenous peoples. The USA wasn't taken over by racist pedophilic raping oligarchs, it was founded by them. Trump doesn't hold a candle to the evils of Thomas Jefferson and George Washington.
As long as you believe in some mythical past where the USA was a net good for the world, you will never be able to understand why the rest of the world wants to see your country destroyed and dismantled.
I understand. My question was: why can't Americans NOT involve Russia, china or whichever other superpower to make themselves seem better? It's ok to just admit that you suck and leave it at that.
I didn't downvote you. I think the answer to that is that all humans everywhere, Americans included, want to immediately jump to whatabboutism to save face.