There it is again. The classic “everything is authoritarian so the word doesn’t mean anything” routine. It’s funny how that only shows up when someone calls tankies authoritarian. Communism isn’t bad because some western pundit said so, it’s bad when it turns into an excuse to justify control.
The idea of giving power to the people is great, but pretending censorship and repression are just “necessary tactics” ruins it.If the system can’t survive without silencing people, it’s not socialism anymore, it’s just another hierarchy wearing red paint.
Ha ha yeah, the good ol "authoritarianism exists everywhere!" Argument
You know well and good when someone says a government is authoritarian they mean things like speech being controlled and unable to criticize the government, being heavily restricted in your freedom of movement, being heavily restricted in the information you're allowed to access or possess and so on and so forth
That's just what you want it to mean so you can distance yourselves from the term entirely.
Wikipedia has a pretty clear cut definition, and it's the one the majority of people (who aren't one themselves anyways) use