I’d say it’s even simpler than that, it’s just tribalism.
$person has criticized our gracious $monarch. They deserve to die!
$person speaks against $religion and is a heretic. They deserve to die!
$person made fun of $fascist_leader. They deserve to die!
$person goes against $party. They deserve to die!
Whoever is in power speaks absolute truth. Be it a fascist leader, a church, a communist party or a monarch. Opposing that truth is heresy/treason/counter-revolutionary/evil and should be severely punished.
I am still convinced a sizable chunk of online tankies are just right-wing extremists cosplaying. Oh, and of course foreign operatives.
I’d say it’s even simpler than that, it’s just tribalism.
Whoever is in power speaks absolute truth. Be it a fascist leader, a church, a communist party or a monarch. Opposing that truth is heresy/treason/counter-revolutionary/evil and should be severely punished.