I’ve come to two realizations recently:

One

The sudden tankie willingness to believe that Trump cares about a cease-fire in Gaza, and got tough with the Israelis and then they capitulated which Biden could have done at any time, sheds some interesting light on how the tankies think. They accuse anyone who disagrees with them of shifting their realities around, such that anything Biden does is good, anything the State Department says is always true, even if it contradicts itself or basic common sense or reality. I always thought that this was just a lazy reality-free arguing tactic, but in retrospect, I should have realized that it’s a tell about their own thought process. Just like it’s a warning sign if someone constantly suspects their partner of cheating, or is constantly on an absurdly hypervigilant lookout for scams and people trying to cheat them out of money, this is a key revelation about the way Hexbear itself looks at reality.

Trump is a capable diplomat, if believing that lets them trash Biden. Trump cares about Palestinians, if believing that lets them trash Biden. The cart is firmly in its place in front, and everything else including the horse can follow along depending on what the cart dictates.

Two

Hexbear’s censorship, and wild hostility to anyone who comes to “their” place and tries not to toe the party line, really does do a pretty effective job of distorting the view of reality and consensus that their users are able to experience.

Take a look at these and compare:

https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/36382877

https://hexbear.net/post/4354590

    • spacecadet@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      21 hours ago

      To build off that, I was going to say it is easier for them to understand authoritarianism than liberalism. They more closely relate to using power to enforce will rather than consensus and damned the consequences.

    • Possibly linux
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      20 hours ago

      Tankies are very much not Republicans

      Extreme left and extreme right are similar since they both embrace Authoritarianism and government oppression.

      • Amputret@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        39 minutes ago

        As an anarchist, I take issue with saying the “extreme left” embraces authoritarianism. But I get what you mean.

      • Eldritch@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        9
        arrow-down
        6
        ·
        20 hours ago

        In to up vote you before someone cries

        "hOrSeShOe tHeOrY! HoW dArE yOu CoMpArE aUtHoRiTaRiAnS tO aUtHoRiTaRiAnS! We’Re So OpEn AnD dEmOcRaTiC tHaT wE wIlL hAvE tO lOcK yOu Up Or KiLl YoU. FoR bEInG a ThReAt To ThE vAnGuArD bY dIsAgReEiNg!”

        • the_crotch@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 hour ago

          I agree with what you’re saying but I always downvote this obnoxious alternating case nonsense. Shit needs to die.