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this post was submitted on 05 Mar 2024
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chapotraphouse
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“Mutual aid” is not transformative and so will not “get us anywhere.” Huey P. Newton called the Panthers’ stuff like that “survival programs,” which were meant to keep the poor alive/healthy until the coming revolution.
This is one of those radicalizing things I came across as a teen. I remember it went something like this:
"Charities are a good thing.."
"Why don't charities ever seem to solve problems?"
"Why do charities need to exist? Don't we pay taxes for this kind of thing?"
"Ohhhhh! They're pocketing the bulk of the money, and using the clout to get courtside seats at basketball games under the guise of 'awareness'?"
Even the most well meaning charity or mutual aid is still a band aid. Don't get me wrong, feeding, clothing and sheltering people is never bad. Grifting the families of cancer patients is. Looking at you, Susan Komen foundation
It does capitalism’s reproduction for it, so they can increase profits. Sadly many anarchist want to provide for people’s needs without “imposing” ideology upon them, which is not going to help progress.
It helps those people have their needs met in the immediate term though, people still are dying of starvation and exposure in the US. Without a recognized ideology you will be less likely to be targeted by police or political groups, so I do see the reasoning behind separating aid and ideology. People that need food aren't trying to be lectured, I have relied on food banks in the past and if it was required I attended a lecture or something before getting help that would be some bullshit, but they could have pamphlets available like Food Not Bombs.
Sure, but if you’re serious about being anti-capitalist maybe do something about it beyond temporary bandaids?
I think where things are in the US theres an arguemment for specifically survival programs and community building more generally whike perhaps not transformative, are probably the necessary step to "get us anywhere." Atomization is so extreme in the US that i think strategies like that might be the best to focus on for building a foundation that can built on
So what is the strategy to build a vanguard? The mutual aid is just a way to attract people to the movement, sure, but it's the best method of attraction there is.
Protests are good for agitation but the christofascists have so many well established, well funded churches any revolution would immediately be taken over.
The problem is a lot of the groups who do mutual aid in the US are also ideologically opposed to forming centralized vanguard parties.
Yep, the survival programs were explicitly for "survival pending revolution." They were never the ends themselves but merely a means to an end.