What’s interesting about mutual aid in relation to the point you mentioned about human nature is that it always shines through in times of crisis. Humans have evolved to recognize the fact that collaboration is a more effective way to survive and prosper than competition, and not even late-stage neoliberalism can suppress that instinct. Wherever you see hardship, you almost always see people banding together to meet the needs of the entire struggling population rather than fighting over resources. Apes together strong!!! 💖
This might be a bit too poetic but personally I see evolution as a constant trend towards greater cooperation. We started with molecules on their own then single celled organisms, then they came together in multi-cellular organisms, then those organisms started cooperating with single celled organisms, then the organisms learned to cooperate with each other, first in simple way but slowly building complex and large social networks. This is where humans stand, we're a species that's almost exclusively geared towards social cooperation, we've repurposed several mechanisms that were once for fighting and other things to aid in our social interactions. We are the only species to see smiling as friendly and not a threat, we cry not to clean our eyes but mainly to indicate distress, we laugh to befriend other people and try to make others laugh, and so on and so forth. We're so good at reading emotions that we can even do it with other species and we are so keen on trying to recognize faces that we have parandolia. We're so in tune with each other and have an unprecedented ability to communicate that's found in no other animal that it's obvious that we are mainly built to work together. Human success has always been dependent on being able to cooperate with more and more people and history proves that we're willing to expend great amounts of energy on communal projects. You have to delude yourself to think that humans aren't primarily built for cooperation given how it's present in literally everything about us, we are so dependent on that cooperation that being socially ostracized feels like a threat to our life. If anything else was true we would not have been nearly this successful as a species, hell we wouldn't even have been able to survive, on a purely individual level we're terrible compared to other animals and a big brain doesn't do you a lot of good if you're constantly running away from lions.
@@hedgehog3180 thank you for sharing this thought. In recent times, seeing so many news about climate crisis and crimes I became hopeless about humanity (how can a species destroy its own environment and the resources it needs to survive? how can human beings make other humans guinea pigs in experiments without them knowing?). Your thoughts gave me some sunshine.
@@hedgehog3180 I agree with everything that you said except that evolution is going towards this outcome. More and more complex structures have developed over time, but evolution isn’t looking towards that, we simply occupy the niche in which cooperation is useful. We are no better or worse at surviving than plankton, but we simply do it in a different way, a way that needed millions upon millions more years to develop because of it’s complexity. But yes, we are 100% built for cooperation with kin, and that powerful force needs to be harnessed to create a sustainable social structure.
solid video. still a little abstract, but i think that's because some of us still find concepts of mutual aid alien, especially in the US. an unfortunate testament to how effective individualism has been in suppressing liberatory struggle.
Whenever I bring up consensus, my dad says “what if someone is just a contrarian”? and I want to tell him to be realistic for once, because no one whose needs depend on arriving at a consensus would actually be a contrarian just for the fun of it. If I’m being perfectly honest, when it comes to your final thoughts at the end, I love the sound of them on paper, but I am also scared of what would happen to me if I actually engaged at that level. I would be tossing every privilege I have into the wastebasket, never to be obtained again. I would place a target on my own back and become a victim of the system at a much greater level. There is an event horizon here; a point of no return.
that is a price we all have to pay for liberation sadly but our suffering today will plant seeds for the children that inherit our world. the longer we stay passive out of fear the more our children will suffer, as a afro indigenous person my ancestors fought and died trying to free themselves from colonialism and slavery and though many of them never saw freedom they laid the seed for liberation. Every flower has to die at the end of spring so that next spring new ones can grow...think about it.
thanks for this video!! unlike a lot of anti-capitalist content which feeds into feeling doomed by capitalism, this legitimately got me off my ass looking for mutual aid to participate in my area. I've felt like...not good enough, not intellectual enough, not knowledgeable enough to participate in socialist orgs or a lot of activist efforts, but mutual aid seems much more approachable. I'm looking forward to it!
It's amazing how so straightforward of an idea of actively cooperating with your community is, while still seem so alien today. Like, even in my short time, it's weird to go from even simply things like block parties to now living in places where people don't even wave at each other. I feel pretty resigned to just helping my small group of friends because we are comfortable just sharing what we need between each other, but I'm not sure how to even try to expand that anymore.
Maybe one way to expand upon that is to reach out to anyone who seems like they could use a little help, I’m not sure of what your area is like, but if there is someone who looks particularly strained for cash, maybe offering some spare groceries to them would work? I’d advise using a harmless guise like the store had a sale but you realized you can’t go though them in time so you are asking people if they want the extras to prevent food waste? Just to avoid anyone feeling singled out or worse, judged and pitied. Or maybe you have some vegetable seeds you could offer someone trying to start a garden, if you start using a bus instead of a bike you could offer someone your old one, stuff like that. Best of luck to you by the way!
Mutual aid is the first step in a revolution and is both part of the revolution itself and also laying the groundwork for an anarchist world. An anarchist society would be mutual aid expanded to all areas of society and human life.
2:38 that remove me of when I went to El Salvador with my family, and we visited one of my dad’s aunts. We harvested bean plants and were all shelling the beans, removing the leaves and whatnot, talking and laughing. It was great, we were all helping out and got to eat delicious soup afterwards. I really miss the sense of community there, something I see lacking here in the US.
Your videos are fantastic and I regret not really having spare income to throw at you or I'd already be a patron. Am trying to find and/or create mutual aid opportunities near me but it gets a little overwhelming for a chronically anxious autistic leftist in the middle of nowhere in a red state to figure out what to do and where to look when frankly I do not have the skillset for organizing. Your videos help keep me motivated not to give up, because rediscovering our natural tendency toward mutual aid as a species is the only way we're going to survive this hell.
I wish. I have to work 60 hours a week, not the most but still means I basically save my free time for chores and preparing meals… or crying in a corner. even going to a meeting once a month is to much, let alone participating in any kind of aid or receiving any for that matter.
This is a wonderful explanation. I was co-author on an article for The Commoner on mutual aid (the article is "Mutual Aid Does Nothing Alone") where we spend some time explaining what mutual aid is, why it isn't charity, and why the liberal and rightwing usage of this language to describe their projects is definitionally, foundationally incorrect. I did have a question, following from your Black anarchism video and this one. I completely agree with you that mutual aid is radical and generative and poses a direct challenge to State and Capital. We make the same argument in our article. What do you make, then, of Ervin's description of mutual aid as a survival program? He has said on several episodes of the Black Autonomy podcast that mutual aid isn't revolutionary in and of itself, that it's more of a survival initiative pending revolutionary action.
I read and quite enjoyed that article, so I really appreciate your response. I agree with Ervin that mutual aid isn't necessarily revolutionary in and of itself, but I think where we diverge is that I believe it forms the bonds and the blueprint for, and can therefore lead to, revolutionary action. We might not even diverge there, I'm sure he would agree with me on that point too. Perhaps he's making commentary on how mutual aid has manifested lately. It's been a while since I've been able to catch up on the podcast though, been so busy. In sum, it's not always revolutionary, sometimes it's just a survival programme (though who says those are mutually exclusive?), but it can be revolutionary.
Ok, this was really good. Thank you for the tools. It was a lot to consume, but I think i get the idea. I may re-watch later after trying to be more involved with mutual aid. My first quick evaluation makes me realize that my queer group is the best mutual aid organization. The union i protest with, and the community association, miss some things, or are somewhat co-opted. They definitely don't lead to thriving. However my queer group, which is technically also funded by government grants, has many folks all trying organize mutual aid. It's really really difficult to not play within the system though... ie. if the queer group didn't have government funding, and the people donating, weren't able to donate, then would the folks have a location to gather, for example? I don't know a single queer person who could afford rent downtown, I'm not even sure if we could collectively afford to rent a space downtown. I dunno... people are so poor now a days, it feels very difficult to support a group without support from a system of oppression. Then again... perhaps I'm thinking about this too beautcratically. It's not that we can't take support from such places, it's that we mustn't be influenced by that support. We must maintain mindfulness. This is akin to stealing supplies from a warehouse during Hurricane Katrina. We may just take funding, without providing anything in return. I'm nitpicking. Most things in life don't cost very much money. So we can at least practice mutual aid for those things. [skill sharing, mental health support, gardening, etc.] Sorry for the ramble, you've really got me thinking this evening.
I decided to put this here :) After finding your channel through OCC (You had a collaboration on Solar punk I believe ), I watched many of your videos, which inspired a more advanced vision of something I wanted to do since over a year (I’m still in school and underage so it’s hard to make it happen, I do try and do the small things I can though) That idea first started out as a camp for teens and young adults as an escape place (for example because there is domestic violence in their home etc)with the concept of teaching them things they want to learn and giving them opportunities to explore creativity and other things that they wanna explore. When I got more into gardening I added the idea of having a garden there where people can try gardening and eat fresh produce, also making it a place open for other groups to host meetings or courses and through al I have learned the past few months about permaculture and sustainability I want to incorporate as many of those things as possible :)
fodder for the algorithm! question: how best can those of us how are neurodivergent and/or have social anxiety navigate setting up mutual aid structures? Especially within urban non-communities where everyone is a stranger?
(Apologies for the massive wall of text) One idea is to make plant pots out of stuff (I’ve seen wood palettes propped up against walls in alley ways and filled with plants for example, or cut up milk jugs, garbage bags filled with soil, busted blue recycling boxes that have been patched with some duct tape) and set them up in as many areas as possible, at the base of a street light, tucked on the side of stairs leading to a business, an alleyway, bus stop, near newspaper stands, ATMs, plazas if there are any. Label them as the appropriate fruit or vegetable and maybe leave a little sign painted with care instructions/when to harvest times. They may get taken down but if there is a part of town that no one really pays much mind to but has enough foot traffic to get noticed, setting up vegetable planters might be a good idea to help people save some money on groceries and could inspire others to do the same. One thing that you might want to do if you have the money to do so (I’d suggest looking at dollarstore paints for this, then sealing with clear packing tape to save money on fancy outdoor paint) is to try and paint the containers both so they catch people’s eye and because if you have say wood palettes made into planters, painting them with stuff like flowers or bright colours might make people less likely to take them down as it will look more “put together” as opposed to “repurposed junk” which can carry a negative connotation for many. Not really mutual aid to humans per say but you could also look at setting up a bee hotel and bee bath near the planters to help attract pollinators, this can also help with making it more acceptable to most passerby’s. If there are buildings dedicated as public bathrooms (usually near a park depending on if your city has them) and they have those odd opaque roof over stalls but plexiglass roof over sinks designs (or something similar), you could set up vegetable planters inside but just try to keep the planters light and tidy for the janitors sake, might not work if the building has no windows but in that case I’d suggest leaving hygienic products instead. Clean paper cups like the ones at fast food places are good because it helps if you are homeless and need to use the tap water to shower in a stall, I’d suggest getting as large of a size that a dollarstore or other shop sells to lessen the need to go back and forth for whoever uses them. Recovered wood can also be nailed into little bookshelves (or triangular shapes with some raised platform under it) to hold sealed, canned goods, socks, mittens, hygienic products, first aid supplies, bottled water or even better, sealed reusable water bottles that can be refilled in a coffee shop or public restroom, books to help with certain skills like repairs and gardening, spare clothes folded up for anyone to take (especially baby clothes and children’s clothes), rain ponchos, face cloths that are absorbent enough to dry hair with but small enough to carry around, hand sanitizer, zip lock bags (for those carrying their dirty laundry or an extra pair of shoes), utensil kits, toothbrushes and toothpaste, dental floss, pocket mirrors, plant seeds (you can get a ton from bell peppers to start), sunglasses, sunscreen, aloe Vera gel (for sunburns and making hand sanitizer yourself), toques/beanies, cloth grocery bags, flip flops for those who use gyms to shower and don’t want to go barefoot, etc. Just little caches of items left where people can access them, that way you can avoid interacting directly with people but still help them one way or another.
My brother offhandedly had mentioned the concept of mutual aid to me a few weeks ago and I'm shocked I never found it before. I have not done enough in my community and I have so much to learn - but I want to do something to directly support my community. I was so happy to find that my town does have a mutual aid group underway so I am in the process of getting involved to discover where I can best offer my support. I see some of my doubts echoed in the comments here; not being intellectual enough, not knowing exactly how to help. But everyone starts somewhere and I'm used to being a student. I will learn what I can while getting involved how I can; I will hold myself accountable for my mistakes and hope my peers will recognize the ones I do not; and in the meantime, hopefully we can actually help some people wuth immediate concerns
I really appreciate the slides you shared. While you were talking I was asking myself how I can participate as an artist and then I finally realized how much art you were sharing!!! Thank you.
Excellent video as per usual. I've been doing more and more research on mutual aid as of late. When I'm not sick I'll try it out, though I'm not sure I have any skills that are valuable to it beyond basic labor.
I know you're not a big fan of leftist youtubers whose content is dunking on the right than talking about systematic change, but have you ever considered getting on Thoughtslime's eyeball zone to boost you channel? Your content is very refreshing on the platform and a lot more productive in my opinion.
If you avoid confusing mutual aid with charity, is there still a danger of saviorism? I would think that the attitude of a mutual, peer relationship would prevent that already. (It may still be worth saying as another way of putting a point; redundancy can be a good thing, I'm just curious.)
I have a little formal education in community development and this question was once posed to our professor who had worked with many vulnerable communities both globally and in the US. He said that as long as you don't go in with the intention of being a "savior" of these people, you are not at risk of saviorism. I took this to mean that as long as you work With the people (vs enacting your interests/ideas over theirs) its fine.
Fire departments and police departments almost invariable have mutual aid agreements with their counterparts in nearby cities/towns/counties/countries ..... So a) it works, and b) if they're doing it you sure as hell should be doing it
Just discovered Solarpunk recently and it’s fascinating. Sometimes I wish I had a political legal background so I could think up how this would actually work. Thank you for your content!
Hey, where can I find your fiction writing work? I'm looking for some inspiration for a single world that have equally prolific solarpunk (an-com) and cyberpunk (an-cap) societies that I'm writing.
Most of my fiction writing remains unpublished. You can find one fantasy short story on my Medium, and a few world building posts on my Patreon. I haven't written any cyberpunk ancap societies though!
I was thinking something similar. Like what do storys look like in a an-com world? Though I have not written these storys...yet. It something that... I think should exist? Its good to know others are out their searching and wanting something to feed their imagination. So...thank you! :)
Just passing by to say that's an awesome concept bc I never really thought about it but now that you mentioned it it is a no-brainer that cyberpunk would be ancap, in opposition to the an-com of solarpunk
I'm curious if anybody who sees this comment has some good examples I could learn about of mutual aid organizations that people have built in the first world, in communities that did not have a strong tradition prior (ie an indigenous community which has been doing this for a thousand years), that have had some degree of success getting people involved, building some sort of real power, etc. I'm really interested in this sort of thing, and want to be involved in it, but it seems very daunting and I don't really know about any recent lasting success stories.
I'm having a hard time understanding how consensus decision making can be scaled up to the millions of participants (like in a nation) without ending up with some form of a hierarchy (at which point it becomes a representative democracy, right?).
I assume more decentralization. Though realistically doing anything at a national level would require some form of either votes or representation. Trying to scale up mutual aid in a vacuum to a national level probably wouldnt work, nor would it particularly be necessary. As it stands, not counting for the materials and goods that cross state borders, i imagine most government projects and business operations that you benefit from are done by people within your geographic location. And im sure a lot of the things that you import from the outside, there would be people willing to do it themselves if they were properly compensated. It's food for thought. Not necessarily THE solution as i am sure humanity will encounter many foreseen and unforeseen problems if they did implement them, but it doesnt mean there's no value in them. It doesnt have to be perfect, just better.
Speaking of competition, I want to congratulate all the winners who got here first. Never forget that you are the best of the left. Here are the keys to the gate, enjoy keeping it! 😁
Do you have any easy to understand videos or articles about Concensus Democracy? I've heard about it a lot I'm just struggling to understand exactly how it works.
The irony of learning about this through a tool created by one of the largest corporate conglomerate in the history of the planet to generate profit. Just saying. As pretty as this might sound, it is ludicrous to think it will happen in the way that it is described. Are you enabling the systems that you are trying to bring down?
Just because you find knowledge within a particular structure or doctrine does not discredit that knowledge. If you think critically you should be able to analyze and evaluate the idea and information detached from the structure that delivered it. If you are pessimistic of all the knowledge you receive or find simply because of how it was delivered or where it was delivered from then in order stay true you would not accept any knowledge you don't develop yourself (and how can you trust your own developed knowledge when it is dependent on implicit biases and unconscious assumptions). It would follow that in order to stay authentic you would have to start from scratch for everything you need/want to learn. A healthy skepticism is warranted. simply brushing aside an idea "because it came from RU-vid" is stupid. Mutual aid has already happened. It has been used for thousands of years. It would be ludicrous to say it couldn't work despite the past demonstrated experiences of it working. A lot of critics try to discredit more egalitarian ideas of organizing society as "idealistic" "utopian" or as you put it "pretty". This deflects from providing any actual critique or alternative. Usually it implies that we should stick with the status quo as clearly it is currently "working" and other egalitarian ideas require an idealized version of humanity, one that apparently doesn't exist. But the current system isn't working. We are hurtling towards a climate crisis. Inequality is running rampant and it is becoming depressingly obvious that our kids will not have a better or even the same quality of life as our parents. Critics often say "Well we don't know what could happen if we try to reorganize society. It could be worse!" But we know for certain that our current system will result in tremendous human suffering if not the demise of our species. How is it logical to opt for certain destruction just because we don't know for certain the outcome of alternatives? The Capitalist system we live in is so pervasive that it is impossible not to act within it. The argument that activists or people who want to move away from Captialism have lost their "integrity" because they need to work within a Capitalist system for the time being is a deflection because it sets an unrealistic standard of integrity before an idea can even be recognized. By making the barrier so high activists can be discredited because the critic can say "well you work for Starbucks, you operate within the capitalist system so you don't practice what you preach". It's an asinine attempt to deflect from actually engaging with the idea.
@@Mardello1 Thanks Mardello. That is a very valid view and I appreciate you taking the time to expose it here. I guess my original comment came out more cynical than I had anticipated. I'm all for mutual aid and hope it gains traction.
To truly free people from economic pressure mutual aid cannot require payment or trade, it must be free collaboration. Teaching everyone in your city to meet each other's needs for free with free collaboration networks is the only path forward. It is also VERY effective and easy! Networks like sharebay, olio, trustroots, compartir, or just moderated phonechat groups with rules to only gift, share or volunteer. You, reader, stop waiting for a better solution. THIS is the solution but YOU need to do it. YOU need to reach out and communicate with ALL the people in your city. It is YOUR responsibility.
