this post was submitted on 04 May 2026
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Many people on lemmy.ml deeply respect and admire authoritarian governments and organizations.

Iran, China, North Korea, Soviet Union...

The West has many flaws. But our flaws are nothing compared to these guys.

Iran hangs homosexuals. Iran shot 30,000 people in less than than 2 weeks. The Soviet Union had to build a fucking Iron wall to prevent people from escaping. The Soviets lied about the Chernobyl nuclear explosion. China censors the internet. China wants to eliminate Islam. North Korea is a totalitarian hellscape. Watching anime is a crime.

Why is lemmy.ml so fascinated with authoritarians?

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[–] PonyOfWar@pawb.social 162 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (92 children)

In my experience the attitude of many of the more prolific users there is something like "America and the West are doing evil things, so their enemies must be the good guys". Atrocities by Western-aligned states are readily accepted as facts, but those committed by countries on "their" side never happened and are merely Western propaganda. They'll cite North Korea's constitution to "prove" that it's a free and democratic country, but when you point out reports showing that the reality on the ground is quite different from what's written in the constitution, that's of course just Western propaganda and the people who fled the country are being paid to spread lies. That dismissive attitude makes it impossible to have a serious discussion with them.

That said, I now have a solid blocklist of their "worst offenders" and found that there are plenty of people with way more balanced opinions as well.

[–] Denvil@lemmy.ml 42 points 3 days ago (6 children)

Hello, a rational .ml guy reporting in

My political opinions are:

what if we just like were able to eat and stuff like that, that'd be pretty dope

[–] Denvil@piefed.world 22 points 3 days ago

Actually after meaning to do it for a while and constantly forgetting about it I've decided to make myself go ahead and make a piefed account before I once again fall into the loop of "eh I'll make it later" and them promptly forgetting it 2 seconds later

[–] Bronzie@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I'll be a bit greedy and add in: Not kill each other over ideological differences and just do our own shit and be happy.

I realize this sounds like Utopia, but one can dream!

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[–] nymnympseudonym@piefed.social 27 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (9 children)

“America and the West are doing evil things, so their enemies must be the good guys”

It's illuminating. I used to be a hardcore anarco-capitalist/radical libertarian and that community had exactly the same thought pattern:

  • Vietnam/Middle East show how USA lies for domination
  • Snowden showed how CIA/NSA lies for control
  • Markets showed how the Fed lies for moneyed elites

... and so on, so that it becomes a given truth that everything the government says is a lie, no matter what.

So then COVID comes along and all the libertarians are "FAUCI LIES! COVID IS JUST FLU!"
A few months (and a lot of Russian influence ) later, these people are believing that mRNA vaccines cause heart disease, etc etc etc

ANYWAY, what's interesting to me is how these two diametrically opposed ideological communities -- Tankies and AnCaps -- have almost exactly the same group dynamics pathology.

[–] frisbird@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 day ago

You think Tankies were anti-vaxxers?

If not, how do you account for that difference?

Me personally? I'd say it's because Tankies have critical thinking skills.

[–] orbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com 33 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Wait until you read what real anarchists think of AnCaps.

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[–] AskewLord@piefed.social 21 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (3 children)

it's because they want to feel special.

the root of so much of the people that get caught in these delusional thought pattern is simple massive insecurity. and by clinging to a delusion you can mask it with a feeling of superiority because you KNOW THE TRUTH.

same reason people get recruited into cults. the cultists specifically target insecure people they can emotionally exploit and isolate. they are not interested in secure people who are grounded in reality, because there is nothing for their manipulation tactics to work on.

extremist politics also always become quasi-religions, or merge with fundamentalist religious belief.

[–] nymnympseudonym@piefed.social 15 points 3 days ago

superiority because you KNOW THE TRUTH

Oh God yes, this this this!!

The Conspiracy folks all really get off on being Smarter Than You because the have Access to the Secret Knowledge. Once you have seen the evidence (eg "Fahrenheit 451") and started associating yourself with "like-minded people", then you too will become an Anointed One.

Culty culty cult

It is very seductive for people who feel their intellect and insights are not being seen.

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[–] Malyca@lemmy.zip 8 points 3 days ago

I can't help but laugh at the absurdity of "anarcho-capitalists". Glad it's past tense for you.

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