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Comment by prvc | Hacker News Reader

Wait, are we expected to trust the chat popup that refers to us as "comrade"?

The Internet Archive is collective action...in action. Why would they use any other word? It's an example of people successfully working together for a common goal.

I'm a huge fan of collective action. That's what communities are. I still never use "comrade" in a non-ironic or non-sarcastic manner. Voluntary power with people is different than authoritarian power over people.

What’s wrong with “comrade” ?

that word has some loaded baggage with it in the US. It's rarely used outside the context of it being coopted by the communist movement-- at least in the US. Considering the multiple "red scares" in the US, the Palmer raids, etc... 100 years of history have linked the connotation in US usage as a reference to supporters of communism, stemming from a time when that support was also fairly closely linked with a Soviet Union very belligerent towards the US. Although it has been used more generically in the communist political scene without a linkage to (and with a criticism of) Soviet-style communism.

I highly doubt archive.org intended that association, it merely explains why a person would view it as an odd choice if words.

Not just in the US. I wouldn't recommend using it in a non-ironic manner in the countries that experienced Soviet occupation either.

I get called "friend" now. You broke it!

I find the fact that it is a fake chat pop-up a lot more untrustworthy.

Wild! I didn’t think anything of it since in my social circle being ironically not-ironically communist is totally normal. Using lingo like “comrade” or more extremely stuff like “Daddy Stalin” is just counterreactionary and an attempt to “own the label” when people accuse you of being a communist or socialist for wanting the mildest of progressive policies.

Edit: Not sure why the downvotes for what is basically a candid, “hey if you’re confused about the wording it’s because it’s a very specific political activism shibboleth.”

The Chinese equivalent to comrade also fills the role queer does in modern English in Hong Kong.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongzhi_(term)#Usage_in_contem...

That’s really cool, I love it!

I would guess the downvotes are because talking about how you and your friends “ironically” praise one of the worst mass murderers in history is not as cute as you apparently think it is.

It’s not really meant to be cute exactly, it’s more meant to take away the power of silencing tactics like, “oh so you’re a communist then?” by leaning into it and responding with absurdity. Nobody who calls you a socialist like that is trying to have a rational reasoned argument — they’re trying to put you on the defensive and shut down your argument using some mouth sounds they’ve memorized. But the trick and why these silencing tactics work is because if you try to take the high road and engage with them intellectually at all you lose. You spend all your energy on the defensive trying to explain why that’s so wrong it’s not even funny and it looks like they win because nobody is paying any attention after the snappy communist quip.

But if you lean into it and say something like “yeah obviously, I want that big Mao Zedong” observers know that you’re being absurd but the accusation just rolls off and now you control the direction of the argument.

This is basically how to publicly engage with people who argue in bad faith 101.

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