this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2026
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[–] Dirt_Possum@hexbear.net 30 points 6 days ago (6 children)

As everyone else has said, no, we should not. But with that out of the way, I'm surprised the anti-tankie crowd hasn't adopted it to a much greater degree than the occasional reference. Like some of the other lemmy instances that make being "against tankies" their entire identity I would have thought would love to spam that symbol. Maybe I shouldn't be giving them ideas if they happen to see this thread.

My first encounter with "3 arrows down" and what it meant was that early (c.2018) breadtuber who used it as his name, or his channel name anyway. I think he turned out to be a piece of shit by almost anyone's standards (I forget what it was, but wasn't there some scandal that ended his breadtube career?), and I wonder how much that poisoned the well for other anti-tankie "leftists" to want to use it. May have had nothing to do with it, but if so, highly critical support.

[–] Nacarbac@hexbear.net 22 points 6 days ago

some scandal that ended his breadtube career

(I assume.)

[–] Riffraffintheroom@hexbear.net 18 points 6 days ago (1 children)

It would be kind of funny to use it and replace the communist symbol with NATO.

[–] Tabitha@hexbear.net 14 points 6 days ago

The USSR no longer exists so there is an open spot.

[–] PorkrollPosadist@hexbear.net 9 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

I'm surprised the anti-tankie crowd hasn't adopted it to a much greater degree than the occasional reference.

While the Liberals are largely ignorant about history, I think categorizing the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany as the same thing is a bridge too far even for them. This is why they focus on abstract critiques like "authoritarianism" or "totalitarianism." These allow you to discard any alternative to the status quo without having to argue that the people who liberated Auschwitz are exactly the same as the people who built it.

edit before I read purpleworm's reply:

Most of the time when Liberals are shitting on Communism and making grossly ahistorical claims (e.g. calling Putin or Trump a Communist), they are operating in the realm of rhetoric. The history is immaterial to them. They know from decades of programming that Communist is a cheap insult and they'll use it whenever a strained analogy presents itself.

The type of disillusioned Liberal who is actually searching for the point where the United States strayed from the path righteousness, the type of Liberal who would use a symbol like this to differentiate themselves from the standard bearers of American decay, is not operating on this level of slop rhetoric.

[–] purpleworm@hexbear.net 8 points 5 days ago (1 children)

tbf a lot of people do still say exactly that, equivocating between Soviet antisemitism and Nazi antisemitism and accusing the Soviets of just continuing to run the camps and so on.

I haven't see them be asked what they meant by the latter and they don't exactly cite sources, but I think they're referring to the camps continuing to be used as temporary housing for the inmates during the end of the war and in its immediate aftermath, which is a pretty heinous way to mislead people.

[–] Collatz_problem@hexbear.net 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I think they mean that arrested Nazis were at first put into their own camps.

[–] purpleworm@hexbear.net 2 points 5 days ago

No, the reactionaries that I'm talking about were definitely talking about Jews (etc.)

[–] AssortedBiscuits@hexbear.net 7 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Like some of the other lemmy instances that make being "against tankies" their entire identity I would have thought would love to spam that symbol.

They don't use it because it's a lib talking point that the SPD were willing to form a united front but the dogmatic Stalinist authoritarian KPD refused to play along which cause the Nazis to consolidate power. They then segue this to how you should not repeat history by voting for some neoliberal ghoul.

Don't repeat history! Vote for Hindenburg!

[–] purpleworm@hexbear.net 8 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Three Arrows is apparently still going (just uploads very infrequently). idr any scandal but I never followed him very closely. He just seemed like a generic lib historian, honestly.

He's a German Historian who has done videos specifically on WW1 propaganda. Think we found the problem.

[–] red_giant@hexbear.net 2 points 5 days ago

The 3 arrows YouTuber rebranded as “the iron dice” once he learned what the 3 arrows actually represent.