I remember once building a nice charity program that would make meals for homeless people. I had deluded myself into thinking I was building some kind of revolution or whatever.
I had a book club where we all read theory, and it basically was just a tacked on addition to the food charity.
It was really stupid, but it also broke my heart when a guy deliberately sabotaged it because I was a tankie. It was set up in a very level way where we all basically took turns being the coordinator. He intentionally did nothing and told everyone that each role for that week (driver, cook, etc) was filled. Then when the day for distribution came he laughed about how it wasn't going to happen.
I had to buy like 10 pizzas that day, and I remember not having internet because those pizzas were my bill money. The group kept functioning for a while until it fizzled out, but not because of him.
Most people of all political leanings were willing to help me with my stupid idea, but not that guy. I think about that a lot.
Mutual aide is not really the issue with tankies, the problem is the authoritarianism. Mutual aide can be very effective when done properly. For example, anarchists tend to answer the question of "leeches" by giving them the resources to self-actualize, and if the "leech" does not care to do that, they can be kicked out of an anarchist community.
Authoritarianism isn't a thing. No state wants to suppress dissent.
Dissent is suppressed when it needs to be because there's foreign powers trying to destabilize your state. Like when the most powerful country in the world creates a Central Intelligence Agency with the overt purpose of eradicating communism. Which they did covertly through the funding of internal dissent, terrorism and sabotage of infrastructure.
Unless you think the CIA just twiddled their thumbs for 70 years, of course. In that case I recommend reading the book 'Killing Hope' by William Blum.
For what?
For idolizing the soviet union and the people's republic of china, who have done some very evil things. Tankies always try to undermine the sins of authoritarian regimes. They keep trying to instate authoritarian regimes knowing full well that they have killed so many historically.
If you want truly based leftism, try anarchism.
I've created no authoritarian regimes by giving food to homeless people. It was basically just unpaid charity work covered in red paint.
People's ideas are fluid anyway. I made a lot of leftists into tankies by just being nice and tolerant. I've seen tankies become anarchists because they're surrounded by them. I never succeeded at anything, and neither did they sadly. I wish they had. It was really nice helping eachother. I've never had so many friends. We should all become activists because it gives us so many friends.
It was really nice and I wish more people were like that online. In real life that's how it is.
