Thread: I'm starting to find western tankie discourse more chilling than the propaganda of the regimes they defend. In states like Belarus, figures like an 80% electoral victory free of rigging, are not meant to be literally believed 1/
In dictatorships the absurdity of the lie is precisely the point - it is an expression of dominance. Citizens of such countries become adept at living with multiple truths simultaneously. Even regime supporters show bravura discursive skills. 2/
Western tankies miss the point. They behave as if propaganda from dictatorships was actually supposed to be believed. Ironically, they are so imbued with western democratic norms that they have no ability to engage vin cynical doublethink. 3/
In some ways that makes them more dangerous: Imagine how terrifying Belarus's regime would be if they actually believed their own propaganda. To be a western tankie is to yearn for dictatorship untempered by the leven of cynicism. Ends/
