It’s because tankies tend to take an incredibly reductive view on the genesis of communism as a state economic policy.
Communism as an economic system is way, WAY simpler than tankies make it out to be, and it isn’t really intrinsically tied to any one current or historical nation/group or nation. The major idea is that everyone’s theoretically equal, resources are pooled for the public good (ideally, personal property is either minimal or nearly nonexistent), and everyone is free to do the things they enjoy and are passionate about, since their basic needs are met. In this way, respect and reputation become the chief currency of a communist society. As an example, Star Trek’s United Federation of Planets is actually a post-scarcity (i.e. you can replicate very literally almost anything you can think of at zero effective cost) communist star nation/alliance.
Communism as seen by tankies is intrinsically tied to Russia and PRC - Russia because the Red Revolution led to the creation of the USSR as the world’s first officially communist state, and the PRC because their government says they’re still communist, even though it’s obvious from even a cursory glance that they’re nothing of the sort.
In point of fact, both Soviet- and Chinese-style communism are far closer to authoritarian autocracy/oligarchy, than actually communism, and in fact have some feudalistic attributes in some important areas. Sure, for the vast majority of the population, “everyone’s equal”, but in practice, people in positions of political and/or military leadership tended to have FAR more power, and their “basic needs” were met at a FAR higher level and quality than the general populace… which tankies tend to habitually ignore or dismiss out of hand.
TL;DR: historical revisionism + a dash of counterculture so they can just say anything that doesn’t align with their worldview is “anti-communist propaganda”.
Just a point of clarification: communists view historical and contemporary ‘communist’ states as socialist states on the way to becoming communist. The differece they see between the CPC and the USSR and social democratic states (like Nordic countries) is the approach and concern toward preventing the bourgeois erosion of social welfare and the continuing push toward eradicating capitalism as the dominant system of economic organization.
So while you’re absolutely right to point out that the CPC doesn’t fit the theoretical definition of a “communist society” (note that communism is supposed to be stateless), they are distinct from other social-democracy projects in their explicit goal in advancing to a full communism over time. The CPC even says so, if you were to believe them. They view themselves as in a transitional socialist stage on the way toward communism
This would likely also partly explain their attitude toward the use of state authority as a means to a communist end, but I wouldn’t pretend to know myself.
The Six Nations bear a striking resemblance to your definition of communism. They lasted for 15,000-25,000 years, till Europeans introduced diseases on the continent.
Edit: The Six Nations people claim 25,000 years, but we’ve only recently found any evidence that could back that claim up. The evidence found in their home regions dates back at least 15,000 years.
It’s because tankies tend to take an incredibly reductive view on the genesis of communism as a state economic policy.
Communism as an economic system is way, WAY simpler than tankies make it out to be, and it isn’t really intrinsically tied to any one current or historical nation/group or nation. The major idea is that everyone’s theoretically equal, resources are pooled for the public good (ideally, personal property is either minimal or nearly nonexistent), and everyone is free to do the things they enjoy and are passionate about, since their basic needs are met. In this way, respect and reputation become the chief currency of a communist society. As an example, Star Trek’s United Federation of Planets is actually a post-scarcity (i.e. you can replicate very literally almost anything you can think of at zero effective cost) communist star nation/alliance.
Communism as seen by tankies is intrinsically tied to Russia and PRC - Russia because the Red Revolution led to the creation of the USSR as the world’s first officially communist state, and the PRC because their government says they’re still communist, even though it’s obvious from even a cursory glance that they’re nothing of the sort.
In point of fact, both Soviet- and Chinese-style communism are far closer to authoritarian autocracy/oligarchy, than actually communism, and in fact have some feudalistic attributes in some important areas. Sure, for the vast majority of the population, “everyone’s equal”, but in practice, people in positions of political and/or military leadership tended to have FAR more power, and their “basic needs” were met at a FAR higher level and quality than the general populace… which tankies tend to habitually ignore or dismiss out of hand.
TL;DR: historical revisionism + a dash of counterculture so they can just say anything that doesn’t align with their worldview is “anti-communist propaganda”.
Just a point of clarification: communists view historical and contemporary ‘communist’ states as socialist states on the way to becoming communist. The differece they see between the CPC and the USSR and social democratic states (like Nordic countries) is the approach and concern toward preventing the bourgeois erosion of social welfare and the continuing push toward eradicating capitalism as the dominant system of economic organization.
So while you’re absolutely right to point out that the CPC doesn’t fit the theoretical definition of a “communist society” (note that communism is supposed to be stateless), they are distinct from other social-democracy projects in their explicit goal in advancing to a full communism over time. The CPC even says so, if you were to believe them. They view themselves as in a transitional socialist stage on the way toward communism
This would likely also partly explain their attitude toward the use of state authority as a means to a communist end, but I wouldn’t pretend to know myself.
The Six Nations bear a striking resemblance to your definition of communism. They lasted for 15,000-25,000 years, till Europeans introduced diseases on the continent.
Edit: The Six Nations people claim 25,000 years, but we’ve only recently found any evidence that could back that claim up. The evidence found in their home regions dates back at least 15,000 years.