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Jul 2, 2004, 05:46 pm
| #1 (permalink) (top) |
| Molten Ash  Location: Portland, OR Posts: 95 | To use the term Comrade at one time was, IMO, the perfect way to refer to someone who you saw as a brother, sister, and fellow revolutionary. It's not gender-specific, which carries a lot of weight in a world where you may not know the gender of the person you are communicating with and where a patriarchal society has worked hard to seperate the sexes into specific roles - something most revolutionaries detest. It also strongly denotes fraternity, solidarity, and a disregard for hierarchy, unlike some terms, such as "sir" and "ma'am" that non-revoulutionaries use and enforce. Which is unfortunate that now it seems like a joke to refer to someone as your Comrade: it carries the horrors and failures of Stalinism (among other pseud-Communist movements) with it. Now it carries a wiff of authoritarianism and militancy. It's almost as though you are mocking revolutionaries when you refer to them as Comrade. It's like you're saying, "idealistic freak" instead of what it originally meant. So, I ask you revolutionaries, brothers and sisters, what do you think is the perfect way to refer a follow revolutionary in a friendly way, and why do you think so? A new term we all would use could bring us closer, in the way using the term Comrade would. What do you think? Just to start it off, I think cousin, or cuz, might be nice. It's not gender specific, it's familial, and it's short and sweet. "We are convinced that freedom without Socialism is privilege and injustice, and that Socialism without freedom is slavery and brutality." - Mikhail Bakunin |
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Jul 2, 2004, 06:01 pm
| #2 (permalink) (top) |
| Igneous Magma Posts: 623 | Well...black people have used the word brother/sister to emphasize "they're in this together". I really don't know what revolutionaries should call each other...but I am not sure this would be the most crucial aspect. What would worry me most if I were an active part of such a group would be..."are there enough of us to make a difference?" rather than "how we should call each other?". Unfortunately, most people get caught in the pettiness of their own little, immediate situation (that sort of blind individualistic ideology which works for the rich like a charm) without realizing what a gargantuan power resides in NUMBERS, organized action and well-coordinated moves. Oh, well. Maybe it's human nature. COMPETITION BRINGS THE BEST IN PRODUCTS AND THE WORST IN RELATIONSHIPS. |
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Jul 2, 2004, 06:23 pm
| #3 (permalink) (top) | |
| Molten Ash Location: Portland, OR Posts: 95 | Quote:
Precisely. It carries power with it's use, whether or not most people realise it. That's the importance of tapping into that kind of use of language. If you don't believe in this kind of revolutionary power, consider if we stopped referring to black people as "black" people. What if we stopped using a racial or color qualifier every time we describe someone or a group? Words can and do have the power to change our reality. <!--QuoteBegin-syracusa, I really don't know what revolutionaries should call each other...but I am not sure this would be the most crucial aspect. What would worry me most if I were an active part of such a group would be..."are there enough of us to make a difference?" rather than "how we should call each other?". Unfortunately, most people get caught in the pettiness of their own little, immediate situation (that sort of blind individualistic ideology which works for the rich like a charm) without realizing what a gargantuan power resides in NUMBERS, organized action and well-coordinated moves. Oh, well. Maybe it's human nature.[/quote] I think what your talking about is not what I'm talking about. Seems like you're talking about catagorising and labelling. I'm talking about using language to bring people together. Words have power in themselves - we are one of the most (if not the most) verbal species on the planet. Evolution decided that language is a powerful and effective tool for us. You may not realise this, if only because you, like most people, take language for granted. Why do you think there is so much controversy about what languages should and should not be taught in public schools? I agree: most people get caught in the pettiness of their own little, immediate situation. You just seem to think that this is a petty matter, but language and how we communicate with one another is a GREATLY important topic, believe it or not. I think you would do good to study the politics of veganism and animal rights. Then come back and tell me language, and what we call one another, means nothing... (Peter Singer's Animal Liberation is a good start.) "We are convinced that freedom without Socialism is privilege and injustice, and that Socialism without freedom is slavery and brutality." - Mikhail Bakunin | |
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Jul 2, 2004, 10:39 pm
| #4 (permalink) (top) |
| BANNED-Warned multiple times about instigating. User then reported topics multiple times to mess with staff. Posts: 4,412 | My ex-wife started working in retail about the time they started calling employees "Associates." They were low-paid employees. Names don't change relationships. |
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Jul 3, 2004, 03:40 am
| #5 (permalink) (top) | |
| Molten Ash Location: Portland, OR Posts: 95 | Quote:
Maybe it's just me, but years back when I started referring to people I did not know well as "brother" I saw a more companionable reaction from them. Names do hold meaning - and they do effect relationships. Small changes add up. Consider the reaction you'd get if you referred to what another was eating as "pig flesh" rather than "pork"... Words/names don't change relationships? I'd argue that that person eating the pig flesh would be taken aback by that, and snapped into reality for just a moment. (Again, I'd refer anyone to Peter Singer's Animal Liberation - the words we use for animals work to seperate us from their suffering and the reality of the way we abuse them.) And what of calling the woman you are married to "my love" rather than "susie"? If you don't believe names make a difference, try the shock tactic method of changing the way you refer to someone at random. Refer to your father as dad if you call him father, or vice versa. If you call someone sir or ma'am, try something very personal, like brother or sister. I can almost guarantee a shock to their systems. Language, again, is a very human thing and it strikes a cord in us deep below the surface. Why is poetry so moving? Why do we look for colorful uses of words? Why do words, in general, fascinate so many people? I'm not saying that all words are created equal, and all can have an enormous effect - but that's my point. Some words ARE more or less powerful - even revolutionary - than others. Of course we can't live on words alone, but words are, for us human beings, pretty powerful. What's the difference between red and crimson? Seems like a silly, petty difference, but pick the colorful words out of a poem and replace them with their blander alternatives. I don't want to run in circles - my mind wanders and I tend to reiterate and reiterate for no good reason. So I did a search for "The Power of Language" and luckily got this: http://www.mtoomey.com/poweroflanguage.html Check it out for yourselves, and see what I mean. "We are convinced that freedom without Socialism is privilege and injustice, and that Socialism without freedom is slavery and brutality." - Mikhail Bakunin | |
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Jul 3, 2004, 04:02 am
| #7 (permalink) (top) | |
| Molten Ash Location: Portland, OR Posts: 95 | Quote:
"We are convinced that freedom without Socialism is privilege and injustice, and that Socialism without freedom is slavery and brutality." - Mikhail Bakunin | |
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Jul 4, 2004, 01:00 am
| #9 (permalink) (top) | |
| Untrained Fodder  Location: Alabama Posts: 1,354 | Quote:
Horse, hors, as in morse code n. 1. a four legged, hooved mammal Hoss, hoss, as in toss. n. 1. Alternate pronunciation and sometimes alternate spelling of the word "horse." Generally associated with red necks. 2. A large, buff person. 3. A person who is large in life, as opposed to being a Walter Mitty. 4. A nice, friendly person. (2 is comparitive to an actual horse, 3 is metaphorical, 4 seems to be of scandanavian origin, but works well with the general theme of the word) Its just what me and a lot of my friends call each other. We could always use "Doc" Clean toe caps and a filthy mouth! Low morals and high morale! | |
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Jul 4, 2004, 01:19 am
| #10 (permalink) (top) | |
| Molten Ash Location: Portland, OR Posts: 95 | Quote:
But you came here... For revolutionaries, you sure as hell have sticks up your asses! Get off your high horses, and relax a bit. Can't this be for fun? (It's not like I was being totally serious about the whole thing anyway... bejeebus!) "We are convinced that freedom without Socialism is privilege and injustice, and that Socialism without freedom is slavery and brutality." - Mikhail Bakunin | |
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Jul 4, 2004, 01:20 am
| #11 (permalink) (top) | |
| Molten Ash Location: Portland, OR Posts: 95 | Quote:
Hoss, hoss, as in toss. n. 1. Alternate pronunciation and sometimes alternate spelling of the word "horse." Generally associated with red necks. 2. A large, buff person. 3. A person who is large in life, as opposed to being a Walter Mitty. 4. A nice, friendly person. (2 is comparitive to an actual horse, 3 is metaphorical, 4 seems to be of scandanavian origin, but works well with the general theme of the word) Its just what me and a lot of my friends call each other. We could always use "Doc"[/quote] Finally someone who isn't afraid to relax a little.  Thanks, bugsbunny - sounds as good to me as any term!  "We are convinced that freedom without Socialism is privilege and injustice, and that Socialism without freedom is slavery and brutality." - Mikhail Bakunin | |
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Jul 4, 2004, 09:15 pm
| #13 (permalink) (top) | |
| Molten Ash Location: Portland, OR Posts: 95 | Quote:
If you don't think words and titles don't mean much, why do we use or avoid using certain ones? I would like to see this experiment in action: try proving that titles or ways of addressing people make no difference by calling your friends "Sir" or "ma'am" in a non-sarcastic manner. Or try calling people in (assumed) positions of authority "comrade". Try as you may, you can't shake off the fact that we are verbal unlike any known animal. A hefty portion of your brain is dedicated to verbal communication. You'd be a different animal if you didn't have that. "We are convinced that freedom without Socialism is privilege and injustice, and that Socialism without freedom is slavery and brutality." - Mikhail Bakunin | |
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Jul 5, 2004, 07:34 pm
| #15 (permalink) (top) | |
| Molten Ash Location: Portland, OR Posts: 95 | Quote:
I'm a huge fan of the "spontaneous order" theories! "We are convinced that freedom without Socialism is privilege and injustice, and that Socialism without freedom is slavery and brutality." - Mikhail Bakunin | |
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Jul 5, 2004, 11:22 pm
| #16 (permalink) (top) |
 Fyrdman  Location: Middlesbrough UK Posts: 4,152 | I prefer to call people by their names. Using a title does not inspire confidence or comeraderie in me towards others, be they fellow revolutionaries or not. You garner your respect from me by deeds, not simply joining my cause. And for me to see you as a friend, (rather than just a mate), you have to be by myside through everything I go through. This might, in some peoples eyes, make me seem unsociable or aloof, but at least I know I can trust my friends, the two of them, to fight for me, kill for me, die with me and whatever they have to help me should I need it, and they know they can expect as much from me. I don't know anyone else who can say that about their "friends". Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. Winston Churchill |
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Jul 10, 2004, 12:55 pm
| #17 (permalink) (top) |
| Citizen #21521 Posts: 2,599 | Hell, these days college Communists are more concerned with putting Lenin logos on their mobile phones than actually helping the poor. One guy I know, a right-wing conservative Christian, recently went to Cambodia to give reading lessons to the kids there. He is doing far more than any of those leftist college kids ever will Ideological loyalty is the act of giving your soul to a vague concept, to be manipulated by people smarter than you. |
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