I’ve been called a tankie for saying Marxism is a valid strain of Socialism, so I have forever been skeptical whenever someone is called a tankie.

Do genuinely awful people exist on the “left,” like PatSocs and MAGA Communists? Yes, but they are by far the fringe.

Generally, leftists will agree when breaking up issues into their component parts, but will often disagree if posed at a macro level, which is why infighting is both common and largely worthless.

My definition is an authoritarian with a left leaning vaneer.

People are too quick to use the word though. Im a genuine communist, but am staunchly anti authoritarian.

Its really more for hardcore Maoists than anything.