Introduction to Alternative Mutual Aid
Introduction to Alternative Mutual Aid
Mutual aid, perhaps due to the changes of a post-industrialist world and the vehement anti-communism of electoral politics, has become a popular subject within the contemporary left. If you’re reading this you are probably interested in building community for the purposes of radically changing society. This post is written, not as a tutorial, but as a kind of brainstorming session. I want to explore how we can build the kinds of communities, networks, and economies that can be used to bring us closer to socialism. People are now looking to mutual aid and dual power as a way to engage in praxis as a way to deal with the restrictive, right wing political climate. There is talk of building networks, and systems, and communities – and these are all good but how do we do it?
Resource sharing is the foundation of communism, a cooperative approach to managing resources must be present within our organizations. Groups of people who share their resources, groups for whom all resources are held in common, are the cells of the socialist animal.
Before we begin our investigation, we need to understand our goals. We take for granted that the ultimate goal is international socialism, but what of the short term? What do we mean when we say we want to build an alternative? Do we merely want to strengthen our social ties by adopting socialist principles or do we want to build alternative economies on larger scales? In my opinion, both are critical but only an alternative economy will have a chance at bringing about a revolution.
The challenge of building an underground economy is that it requires that we change the very ways we relate to each other. It requires that we cultivate a sense of communal ownership. In order to do this I believe that it may be a good idea for us to allocate a portion of our living expenses to be contributed to a collective pool of resources. Alternatively, we can form groups that take care of our expenses, perhaps beginning with only one like food, clothing, or hygiene products while we familiarize ourselves.
Each person in the group is responsible for providing one kind of item. For example, let’s say we are doing this with food. One person can be in charge of providing carbohydrates, another protein, another produce, another dairy, and another snacks and/or beverages. You get the picture. Each person then has access to all the food the group gets. We do not need to start from scratch, get land, and raise our food ourselves to begin doing this. We can simply use this as a means to purchase less, adding stress to the capitalist economy. We can also dumpster dive, or form agreements with food waste and other non-profits. If a group does have access to land, and we want to raise food ourselves, we could divide the task among a group, perhaps a group of neighbors. One thing often underestimated about communal living strategies is the introduction of complex social dynamics that can affect how people interact with each other. It is important for us to cultivate our characters within this interdependent web. A culture of love, empathy, patience, and respect is important not only because it is good but because it helps us cooperate with each other.
These strategies can reduce waste and build environmentally conscientious structures. Reusing and recycling can be a source of resources itself. Take for example, a book sharing group (books make a wonderful example for this but not all resources will) when someone is done reading a book they can donate it. In time, we become an informal library. Similarly, we can plant the seeds found in produce. We must not underestimate the importance of reuse/recycling within our project as it provides an important resource in itself, allowing for greater self-sufficiency within cells. By cells I am referring to the groups of people that are organizing this alternative network economy. This is to say that the goal is to create a network of these cells which can rely on each other to meet any need that they are unable to meet within their group. While total liberation is impossible prior to the installation of socialism, this can begin to undo our bonds.
By making sure that every person is taken care of within the network, we keep our cells running. This is partially what I mean when I say that this project demands a transformation of the ways in which we interact with each other on an interpersonal level. A regard for everyone involved in your community up to and including complete strangers is a lost sense in an atomized society, but it can be found. Interdependence helps us foster a sense of common duty, allowing us to radically change our interpersonal relationships, communities, and minds.
The idea that we should create alternative, underground structures has been floated for a variety of reasons in a variety of tendencies, with Bookchin’s dual power remaining a popular favorite. I believe that the creation of these networks should be used both to free as many of us as possible and accelerate a global economic collapse. Taking money out of circulation should be a primary goal and I find this to be severely underestimated. In reality, if we find strategies, build alternative economies, and spread these methods we can potentially weaken capitalism’s hold (though this is a long-term project). While daunting, such a project is required if we are going to replace a global economic system. When planning action, especially action that is meant to form the foundation for a new society, we have to take into account the obvious and the subtle. The structures that we build are just as important as the culture running parallel to them. A socialist sense, a sense of public duty and interdependence, can pave the way for personal growth and environmental duty.
