Thread by @K_Niemietz

4.4K likes.

Look who's also at it.

And him, of course.

Anti-Hongkongism (and to a lesser extent, anti-Taiwanism) has a long history on the Left. In the '60s and early '70s, when all Lefties (yes, all of them) were Maoists, Mao's People's Paradise was often favourably contrasted to the capitalist hellhole of Hong Kong.
Example:

Guess who was still at it in 1986? That's right: Our future Prime Minister, Jezza Corbo.

Why does the Left hate Hong Kong and Taiwan so much?
Simple. Because those places prove them wrong.

China adopted socialism.
Hong Kong adopted free-market economics.
Taiwan followed Hong Kong, just not quite all the way.
Results:
China experienced famine and stagnation.
Hong Kong experienced an economic miracle.
Taiwan followed Hong Kong, just not quite all the way.

I have this theory that we live in a version of The Matrix, created by economists, who want to teach us some basic economics.
So they create all these natural experiments, which produce fully conclusive results, with perfectly obvious lessons.
But we still don't get it.

*1949*

-Matrix programmer 1: "Did they learn the lesson from the USSR?"
-Matrix programmer 2: "Nope. They now say it wasn't REAL socialism." -MP1: "Oh Jesus! How much more obvious can we make it?"
-MP2: "Well, there's this place called China. How about if we..."

"...split it into a socialist part, with grim results, and a capitalist part, with great results?"
-MP1: "That's a great idea! Maybe they'll get it this time."
-MP2: "Just to be extra sure: Let's do the same thing in Korea and Germany."
-MP1: "You're making it TOO obvious now."

-MP2: "Oh, you'll be surprised. If anything, it's still not obvious ENOUGH. You know what? I'll split China into not two, but THREE parts. One socialist, two capitalist, with one of the capitalist parts being a bit more capitalist than the other."
-MP1: "Just to make a point."

*1978*

-MP1: "Did they get it this time?"
-MP2: "Nope. They're now saying China wasn't REAL socialism either."
-MP1: "Oh, for crying out loud!!"
-MP2: "I'll think of something else. In the meantime - should we end socialism in China?"
-MP1: "Sure. Put that Deng guy in charge."

*2007*

-MP1: "Have they learned the lesson from that Nicaragua experiment we ran back in the '80s?"
-MP2: "No. They say it failed because of American interference."
-MP1: "Hmm. That guy we had in charge: is he still alive?"
-MP2: "Ortega? Sure."
-MP1: "Put him in charge again!"

-MP2: "And what about Venezuela?"
-MP1: "What about it?"
-MP2: "Well, I've made it sort of socialist, and they sort of like it. But it's not as big a thing as we thought it would be."
-MP1: "How socialist is it?"
-MP2: "About a 6 out of 10."
-MP1: "Increase the dose!"

*2019*

-MP1: "Right. Let's see what they've learned."
-MP2: "I'm sure they've learned it this time."

*They watch a Novara Media clip.*

-MP1: *Silence. Empty stare*
-MP2: *Silence. Empty stare*

-MP1: "Shall we... just pull the plug on this simulation?"
-MP2: "Yes."

Dear Matrix programmers. PLEASE pull the plug already.

Tankies will never be completely mainstream. But they're not exactly a fringe movement either (in the way that, say, Georgists or Randians are). Sameera Khan has 40K followers, Ben Norton has 85K, and Existential Comics nearly 300K. That's the population of a fairly large city.

This means that there are at least tens of thousands of literal Stalinists.
Sure, they're without any influence, because the Trendy Left treats them as an embarrassment, and pretends that they don't exist. But still - it's more than I would have thought in the pre-Twitter age.