“Fellow traveler” is a term used to describe individuals who share similar interests or affiliations. It has been used by various groups, including Christians and political affiliations. The term originated in communist Russia and was initially used as a pejorative towards alleged American Communist Party members during the McCarthy era. However, it has since lost its negative connotations and is now seen as a positive way to express solidarity and connectedness. Some people believe that everyone on earth is a fellow traveler due to the shared experience of living on the same planet.
Fellow traveler is a common expression that suggests solidarity between individuals who have similar interests or affiliations. It is used in a variety of settings. Sometimes Christian groups use it to refer to the fact that all people travel this earth together before attaining eternal life. Even members of the same club, political affiliation, company, profession, and so on might use the term. There is solidarity and a sense of togetherness that is evoked when people say they are fellow travellers.
The ideas expressed behind someone being a fellow traveler predate the term. The pilgrims in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales or Dickens’ descriptions of long carriage journeys or human solidarity are examples of this concept. Yet the term itself did not gain widespread use until later, and its origins are often dated to the beginnings of communist Russia in the early 20th century. The initial usage is often attributed to Leon Trotsky, a Russian writer, who talked about writers and other artists who supported communist regime change but were not as directly involved in participating in the Russian revolution. It should be noted that Trotsky ascribes the term to earlier socialist writings.
For a time, the idea of the travel companion had a unique association with communism. In the immediate aftermath of World War II in the United States, Americans in particular, in their fear of Communism, described members or alleged members of the American Communist Party as fellow travelers. This was a profound insult given the American sentiment towards Communism and the McCarthy era that proliferated during this time period.
As a pejorative, the idea of the travel companion has faded a lot over the years, and unless people know where the term comes from, they’re more likely to see it as a positive, connecting description. There are now many people who align with others as companions. As always, the term expresses solidarity and connectedness, but the taint of its former negative associations is more absent. Trotsky too was concerned about artists who had not been active in the Communist Revolution and wondered to what extent they would support a new Communist Russia, but the underlying anxiety attached to the term has since resolved.
Today it is more common to hear about people who are somehow connected to each other in a positive way described as traveling companions. Some people take an all-encompassing view of the fellow traveler and insist that everyone on earth travels together, even if they have many disagreements. The common fact that we live on the same planet, circling the sun, can mean that we all share a destiny or destination to some extent.
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