I tried explaining my problems with tankies without calling them tankies. In fact, I used their own terminology to describe my disagreement with them. It, uh... well it doesn't make a lot of sense.
George Orwell fought in the Spanish civil war on the side of the Marxists. His army was betrayed by the Marxist-Leninists. After that experience, he wrote 1984, in which a totalitarian government uses "newspeak" to suppress dissent by suppressing the very ideas that people are capable of communicating. I don't think it's a coincidence that Marxist-Leninists describe their disagreements in terms that turn criticism of them into gibberish. I think it's exactly what Orwell was writing about based on his experiences.
When people say Communism had never been tried it's because communism is the end goal. It's the place we want to get to. A stateless, moneyless, classless society where everyone is truly equal. That's the ideal.
And Socialism is how we get there. Socialism is a scientific method of governance. It's not the insanity of "free-markets" nor is it the dictate of an autocrat. You need hospitals. You put the force of govt behind building hospitals and staffing them. You have a giant landmass so you need mass transit. You don't twiddle your thumbs waiting for the market winds to blow just right. You invest in building it. Because you need it. Because it's good for your people.
CATALUNYA TRIOMFANT
OUR LAND WILL BE BOUNTIFUL AGAIN
SO DESTROY THE ENEMY
THEIR CONCEIT HAS SENTENCED THEM TO DEATH
RAISE UP YOUR SCYTHES!
RAISE UP YOUR SCYTHES!
RAISE UP YOUR SCYTHES, DEFENDERS OF THE LAND!