Bro Is Just American for Comrade
Separating real comradeship from the fake corporate version.
Once upon a time, and probably due to a low-grade fever, I took on the thankless task of vivisecting this new generation of startup culture codes. I’d been the victim of these krazy corporate creeds, and then I started hearing even wilder stories about grandiose “manifestos” that would change the world. I took the leap, and dove into this corporate drivel.
You can read the results of my efforts here.
Anyway, I remember being taken aback by the out in the open socialism of these pompous bloviations. We all know — at least some of the older corporate inmates — that the team is always more important than the individual. The startup culture codes take this idea to the next logical level. The messaging can be summarized as follows: as a humble worker you should put in long hours and expect little in return because … you’re the vanguard of a revolution.
They don’t quite use these words. If you look at these insane slide decks, the propaganda is expressed in slogans like “always overdelivers”, “we dislike selfishness”, “we don’t pull rank”, “we expect little reward”, and “we blow shit up”.
I even know a friend at a startup who was told that ‘you’re not working here for the money’. As if she were an intern for a non-profit or NGO doing life-saving work.
However, the ideas underlying these wacky inspirational affirmations are not that far removed from the socialist keystone: “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”
I do like the out-of-context idealism expressed, but we are talking about private ventures that exist to enrich investors and future shareholders. And in spite of their belief in changing the world, a Dr. Jonas Salk — who didn’t have a culture code, and didn’t profit off his discovery — has done far more to improve people’s lives than all the little pishers at these greedy startups will ever accomplish. Full stop.
The fake egalitarianism is the alluring socialist coating over a very bitter pill: the employees at these tech sweatshops are badly exploited.
Hubspot’s most famous alumni Dan Disrupted Lyons has done us all public service by explaining just how the employees — but emphatically not the founders or the early investors — are the ones left out when all these profitless unicorns exit. It’s covered in this presentation Lyons gave at a conference a few years ago. It’s depressing listening, and still an eye-opener even for someone like myself who’s been thrown off the startup horse a few times.
The real startup mission goal of these tech joints is that employees should work all the time for little pay (since you’re “not here just for the money”), but we the insiders are in it for the big IPO payout. Socialism for thee, but greedy capitalism for moi.
There is some encouraging news that I stumbled across a few years back. As an oldster at these tech places, I was initially annoyed that everyone — well basically, the guyz, or the gals talking to their male coworkers — were using the expression “Bro” as their salutation. By the time I’d get to my standup desk after pouring an espresso in the groovy kitchen, I’d hear four or five bro utterances admist the office chatter: “Bro … how was your weekend?”, “Bro, let’s grab a drink after work.”, etc.
I finally realized this was an authentic showing of group affiliation versus the sugary team-ism that’s sprinkled into the corporate PowerPoint slides. The workers in these places were, to my mind, showing an awareness that they’re all — to use that cliched expression — in it together. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a sales dude or software engineer or website developer casually use bro with their bosses. It really signals an us-versus-them view point — and that’s exactly the right one to have!
It’s also a step in the right direction in recognizing that your fellow inmates are your allies. And that’s closer to the intention behind “comrade”. A quick intertoobz search traces the word origin to the French camarade or Italian camerata. Both refer to a very close partner or companion, perhaps in your barracks — that is, someone you can trust to work closely with.
Comrade is obviously a gender-neutral expression and has that going for it.
I’m late to the game, but I now really like the American bro. If we want to extend it to use with our better halves, maybe we can revive sister or just sis.
I’m a fan of the Depression-era Hollywood movies from the 30s and 40s — check out Sullivan’s Travels — which occasionally would show some of this camaraderie. The male protagonist, as in the real world at that time, might ask the anonymous guy on the street something like, “Hey brother, where can I get some grub?” And once he got to the diner, he might say to the waitress “Hey sister, can I get a cup of joe and a sinker?”
With the startup meltdown and news of layoffs each week, no doubt capital we’ll eventually regroup and come up with some new grift that will change the world, etc. You just hope during this next ride, brothers and sisters get a little smarter about how they work.
