This video really gave me so much hope, currently i am starting a union on my work and i have lost a lot of energy on it, your words really resonate on why i want this union to happen and what is the spirit behind organizing with your nearest circle (Neighbors, your work, your family, etc)
I have actually not seen much leftist organising that is directed at the wider community where I live (Wellington NZ) beyond protests & counter-protests. Some of the stuff that exists is really cool, like I've helped run the "little red library" that has been set up in the trades hall and I think it is awesome to have a place for people to come and learn about marxism, but it is very limited by the fact that it is only really known and used by a small group of people that are already socialists. I've been thinking recently about starting a community kitchen type of thing where people pay what they can in order for the kitchen to keep running, but overall it basically provides free/cheap dinners for people, and I think things like that could demonstrate that those structures can be really beneficial and also spread broader awareness of projects like the library. By the way, your videos are excellent and I think the work you're doing here is valuable and inspiring! You provide very grounded, compassionate, and human perspectives on things.
Yeah I think a leading cause of the return of the far right and the failure of the left to adequately address working class concerns is this dissociation from working class communities and not "meeting the people where they're at". Basically falling the same way as liberal elitism at the national level, talking down to workers and remaining disengaged from them. Grassroots and local efforts can really help to repair that gap and benefit the people much more than going in circles trying to talk about stuff that doesn't matter to regular folks like the USSR or Marxist theory.
An example where I saw both mutual aid AND volunteering: I was staying in Germany (early 2000s) in a small town, there was a thunderstorm that began to flood the small town. Water was running into businesses and storefronts, and I witnessed people of the community running about and getting sandbags, brooms, and shovels. Not only business folk, but citizens carrying sandbags as well. Together they stopped the water from getting into stores and flats. Both the local economy and people's homes were preserved because everyone put in the effort. I've never seen anything like it in America, save 9/11, or Katrina. It takes a lot for individualists to help each other out here, but in more socialist/democratic cultures it appears to be the default. That's how I come to contrast Me the Person verses 𝙒𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚, or as the Pioneer song put it, 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙈𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙔𝙤𝙪.
Thank you very much for the positive content!
This video really gave me so much hope, currently i am starting a union on my work and i have lost a lot of energy on it, your words really resonate on why i want this union to happen and what is the spirit behind organizing with your nearest circle (Neighbors, your work, your family, etc)
What was her definition of mutual aid again?
I have actually not seen much leftist organising that is directed at the wider community where I live (Wellington NZ) beyond protests & counter-protests. Some of the stuff that exists is really cool, like I've helped run the "little red library" that has been set up in the trades hall and I think it is awesome to have a place for people to come and learn about marxism, but it is very limited by the fact that it is only really known and used by a small group of people that are already socialists. I've been thinking recently about starting a community kitchen type of thing where people pay what they can in order for the kitchen to keep running, but overall it basically provides free/cheap dinners for people, and I think things like that could demonstrate that those structures can be really beneficial and also spread broader awareness of projects like the library.
By the way, your videos are excellent and I think the work you're doing here is valuable and inspiring! You provide very grounded, compassionate, and human perspectives on things.
Yeah I think a leading cause of the return of the far right and the failure of the left to adequately address working class concerns is this dissociation from working class communities and not "meeting the people where they're at". Basically falling the same way as liberal elitism at the national level, talking down to workers and remaining disengaged from them. Grassroots and local efforts can really help to repair that gap and benefit the people much more than going in circles trying to talk about stuff that doesn't matter to regular folks like the USSR or Marxist theory.
1:39 I'm pretty, pretty sure there are some evils not caused by Capitalism.
The root of communism is community. I think that it is a way of life more than a political ideology or dictate. Just do it.
An example where I saw both mutual aid AND volunteering: I was staying in Germany (early 2000s) in a small town, there was a thunderstorm that began to flood the small town. Water was running into businesses and storefronts, and I witnessed people of the community running about and getting sandbags, brooms, and shovels. Not only business folk, but citizens carrying sandbags as well. Together they stopped the water from getting into stores and flats. Both the local economy and people's homes were preserved because everyone put in the effort. I've never seen anything like it in America, save 9/11, or Katrina. It takes a lot for individualists to help each other out here, but in more socialist/democratic cultures it appears to be the default. That's how I come to contrast Me the Person verses 𝙒𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚, or as the Pioneer song put it, 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙈𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙔𝙤𝙪.