I see the word comrade get passed around a lot on the internet, particularly lemmy, and I’ve never really known the lore behind it. The only association I have with the word is that it’s a word I primarily see used by tankies (as in, authoritarian leftists who hate on authoritarianism in the west but not in the east). Does anyone know and can explain it in a relatively understandable way?
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I could not explain the history of the word to you but I personally use it because its a friendly gender neutral term that doesn’t sound condescending. Like I could refer to someone as friend but I am from the south and thats disrespectful here at least. Its a also a term that to me atleast implies a sense of connection under an oppresive force but I don’t think that meaning is often communicated to the other person.
It’s someone you feel a sense of comradery with. A comrade.
Goodwill and lighthearted rapport between or among friends; comradeship.
Personally I don’t use it and dislike it being used for me, because it has too strong ties for me with statist communism plus it feels like folks are saying we aren’t friends then (if we are).
I actually prefer another similar but less contentious term: compeer, that I came across thanks to Star Trek Discovery.
I mostly use it ironically for false friends that pretend to be leftists 😅
But yeah, that’s a bit like giving the term to the tankies, which is a pity, as in theory it is a good way to describe people you feel are allies in the many of today’s struggles.
There’s also “partner”, which to me implies having aims and goals in common.