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.

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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 would say comrade is a mix of different things but mostly, someone you feel solidarity towards/with. Friend and brother (in arms) are good substitutes too I guess.

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.

“Mister” and “miss” used to be applied to people of higher status than you. A “comrade” is your equal. A comrade is someone who you fight with. During the revolutions of 1848, the revolutionaries, among them the nascent socialist movement, called each other comrades as a result.

The events of 1848 proved extremely influential for the left.

This was before the International split, so all lefties use the word as a consequence.