Problems of Reformed Tankie Doctrine; What it Means, How it Differs from Yezhovism

30 (28) August 2025

In this article, we will offer grounded examination expounding the docrine announced in the previous article (here), and will firmly establish its functional purpose and institution. It will also explicate the fundamental divide betwixt the political modes of Reformed Tankie Doctrine and Yezhovite mass-terror, the reason for the turn to the former in rejection of the latter. Note that an article detailing the political counter-part to Reformed Tankie Doctrine (which will dictate the nature and conditions of its invocation and particular applications), named The Comrade Doctrine, will appear shortly.

First, let us remark upon an innovation made by Master Popper in his work of mixed repute, The Open Society and its Fiends. In the work, he discovered and advanced the revolutionary concept of the Paradox of Tolerance. The Paradox is simple: those who should allow anti-Opening Up wreckers into the deliberations and debates on Reform, have already allowed a fascist, a liberal, or a Yezhovite to sit in the Reichkanzler's chair. Such a disaster must not be enabled, by act or by blind-spot (loop-hole, negligence, trickery, et cetera). What, then, is to be Done?

This, comrades, was the genesis of the development and codification of Reformed Tankie Doctrine. Though we are not departing from the revolutionary teachings of great proletarian leaders Comrade Stalin and Comrade Mao, we have resolved to depart from the traitor Yezhov's counter-revolutionary fabrication of 'Stalinism' and from the red-guardist perversion by Jiang Qing, and her ultra-revolutionary accelerationist gang, of 'Maoism'. Rather, we affirm and uphold the true theory of Comrade Stalin and Comrade Mao: the incontrovertible revolutionary experimentation, study, and ultimately successful achievement which is rightly named Marxism-Leninism and Mao Tse-Tung Thought.

Yet times have undoubtedly changed, it is only dialectical. The standing policy of Reform-Leninism has thus been articulated as 'necessary then; never again'. This remains our standing policy. So also for the mode and machinery of socialist security and internal affairs relating to ideological cohesion.

Prior to the conception and adoption of Reformed Tankie Doctrine, we observed a policy of long-range artillery response. This deficient policy, subsequently named Artillery Response Doctrine, led to debates being drawn out and muddled by insincere, misunderstood, and disingenuous polemical issuances and rebuttals, which naturally caused our efforts at Reform to become confused and stagnant.

Reformed Tankie Doctrine is the resolution of the Paradox of Tolerance and the solution to the woefully deficient Artillery Response Doctrine. From now on, whenever counter-revolutionary wreckers of Reform fire at us, we will nay longer extend the rights and protections of Reform-Leninism to them, nor oblige them with the gentlemanly sport of a similar ,,clever'' responding shot, endlessly reenacting the civility of Eighteenth Century warfare. Guess what, times have changed. We will henceforth immediately deploy our metaphorical tanks to the square of discourse, and shut off all counter-revolutionary (unprincipled anti-Reform) dissent. These are the Three Treads of Reformed Tankie Doctrine:

I. Nay investigation; nay right to speak.

II. Nay badge of comradeship; nay right to speak.

III. Nay interest in bettering* Reform; nay right to speak

*or making Reform less bad, for those comrades who maintain a principled, comradely opposition to Reform

Comrade Mikhail Sergeyevich, as admirable as his bold steps towards Reform were, has taught us a hard and hurtful lesson, and unfortunately, we cannot count on the Ligachevs of the world to do anything serious about it. Then Comrade Nikita Sergeyevich's efforts at Reform bare just how deeply the roots of Yezhov's 'Stalinist' rot go in the perversion of Comrade Stalin's teachings, the revolutionary advancement of Marxism-Leninism. Make nay mistake, Comrade Khrushchev was just as much a son of Father Koba as everyone else; so Yezhov's hyper-centralised, anti-collective leadership 'Stalinist' system retained all its defective, anti-communist levers under a new flag with Nikita Sergeyevich's face upon it, instead. Comrade Khrushchev was an unknowingly loyal son to the true teachings of Comrade Stalin, but was unknowingly instituting those teachings through the traitor Yezhov's mode of politic, Yezhov's ideological perversion— in a word, Yezhov's state, and the ideology of Yezhovism (erroneously called 'Stalinism', as Yezhov himself craftily promoted it). For a deeper, if somewhat outdated, intellectual history/lineage of Reform-Leninism, see here.

The point, however, dear comrades, is to change it, indeed to utterly smash into pieces Yezhov's wicked machinery of state and mode of politic. Reformed Tankie Doctrine's barrel is not only pointed at hostile forces on the outside, but traitorous Yezhovite terrorist factions on the inside. We are bebarking on the Reform Purge to End All Terror-Purges. In the words of Chairman-Senator Andropov 'we are using the purge as a mode of politic to end purges as a mode of politic'.

But what does all this agitational propaganda mean in real practise? Let us look at the actual example of the liquidation of the editorial board of The Philosopher's Interior (for details, see here). What happened? The editorial board begaged in Yezhovite trickery, breaking years-long operating procedure, by publishing behind the back of the General Editor a hollow article (here) lambasting and insulting in the lowest, least comradely terms, the newly announced policies of the Four Nosts and Stroikas (here). They tried to shoot this policy in the back of the head, in stale Lubyanka fashion.

Then what was done about these Yezhovite traitors? Were they 'dealt with' in similar Lubyanka fashion of days' yore? Nothing of the sort. Whilst the editorial board as a body was reprimanded and therewith liquidated, the individual comrades were welcomed to come back if they wished to contribute principled, comradely criticism of the Four Nosts and Stroikas, as enunciated in the Resolution for Liquidating and Reconstituting The Philosopher's Interior, in adherence to the ruling of The Court of Socialist Hearing (both here). That is Reformed Tankie Doctrine in reality.

We are advancing to a qualitatively new revolutionary ideological stage of Renewed Socialist Legality on one hand, and Reform on the other; it therein became necessary to articulate a lawful socialist response to the paradox posed by Master Popper regarding tolerance, and justiable, normalitive mechanisms and procedures of repression. Our aim in the announcement of this Reformed Tankie Doctrine is not the stilling or the shelling into oblivion of debate, but to provide procedural and precedential guide-lines for the productive, revolutionary sustainment and further development of Reform and its ultimate ideological rehabilitation, Reformed Marxism-Leninism, which has been exceptionally characterised as 'Marxism-Leninism made ready for the century'.

As comrades may have noticed, this article, in compliance with the vital development of New Socialist Constitutional Law, references a larger selection of articles than has been usual for Thoughts of a Comrade. We hope that this attempt to thoroughly increase the level and quality of reference (even if only internal, for the time being) is appreciated and found to be useful in the further promulgation of the efforts to construct both New Socialist Constitutional Law and Renewed Socialist Legality. It is our hope and intention to only expand these important efforts.

In a final note regarding future legal articles, there will be some commentary on shorter socialist negative legal articles,, and eventually, there will be a significant commentary on the party constitution of the American Communist Party, a commentary on the 1936 Stalin Constitution, and a commentary on the 1977 Brezhnev Constitution. However, these three articles require a higher amount of fortitime (socially usable time), hence their 'eventual' status.

Until then, Forwards Hold The Lenin Banner of Reform!