“but they (AES states) don’t have elections”
You show them the rich political structures of Cuba, Vietnam, China, etc. that have multiple legislative and executive organs with elected representatives (e.g., in Cuba, members of the municipal, provincial, and national assemblies, are all elected directly by the people last I checked) with large groups of citizens such as workers councils and trade unions helping craft policy and nominate delegates. Just because they don’t always directly elect the president or head of state doesn’t negate their robust democratic processes…
“but they’re only allowed to vote for one party”
You show them the other parties in AES countries that have representatives in the aforementioned assemblies, but which must align with the principles of the socialist state based on their constitutions, as well as the counter example of the US and other western liberal states where any party with power only serves capital and not the people…
“but they can’t criticize their government”
You show them plenty of examples of citizens criticizing their government without reprisal, as well as statistics on their overall satisfaction with the job their government is doing, and how they only crack down on people trying to commit fraud, foment violence against the government, or otherwise exploit others…
“ahah, see, they ARE authoritarian because they didn’t let them do that and executed/imprisoned them, they’re political prisoners!!!”
No, dipshit, they’re just protecting everyone else from the asshole bourgeoisie in their country. Isn’t that supposed to be what you’re all about?
(just an example of some of the conversations I’ve had with my ‘leftist’ friends here in the good old USA, one of whom was actually Cuban American, lol)
Of course it was a Cuban American lmao
It predates the CIA, but I agree that it’s a vastly overused word that is becoming a thought-terminating cliché.
The “tankie” is essentially just anyone that upholds existing socialism as legitimate, warts and all. It doesn’t mean we like the warts, it means we like the whole, and that we believe that these socialist projects will continue their progressive movements. It’s our job to fight against sanctions and warfare against these countries, as these never result in improved conditions but instead the bleakest reaction.
It’s incredibly common in the west to let the perfect image of socialism in our heads lead us into becoming enemies of socialism in real life, as in being real socialism comes with imperfections, flaws, struggles, and problems. This attitude, however, results in socialist words and imperialist actions. Comrade Jones Manoel describes this attitude very well in Western Marxism, the Fetish for Defeat, and Christian Culture.
All states, as they exist, are the instruments by which one class protects its status and oppresses others. Socialist states, where the working classes have gained control, necessarily build up millitaries, police, espionage units, all manner of authority in order to protect the gains of revolution.
This authority is a reaction to ongoing class struggle internally and imperialist aggression externally, and this two-front war is different from imperialist countries in that imperialist countries wage war on their own working classes domestically and the global south externally, while socialist countries do so against capitalists and fascists internally and imperialists externally. The class character is flipped, of course it requires authority, but this is necessary until the death of imperialism and later the abolition of class struggle.
