I will keep saying, mutual aid and gift economy are what are going to get us through this next stretch.
Relationships are everything, and mutual aid is like sun on their leaves.
It's messy and beautiful and if it feels forced at first, well.
Everything does, at first.
Relationships are everything, and mutual aid is like sun on their leaves.
It's messy and beautiful and if it feels forced at first, well.
Everything does, at first.
Comments
We will need community & mutual aid as climate collapse accelerates because of decades of inaction.
We need community & mutual aid to fight authoritarianism. The people united will never be defeated.
Re: a gift economy, have you read #TheServiceberry? Inspiration.
Actual life saving shit.
It's not enough on it's own, of course, but it's close. Especially in times where people are legit afraid of doing building takeovers, etc.
Our kid clothes are almost all hand-me-downs, and they go on to cycle through another set of kids after us.
A friend potty trained her kid and dropped off their remaining diaper stash today.
Another neighbor gave us tomato and herb seedlings this morning!
More and more, our little family economy is an economy of swaps and gifts and exchanges.
But every little (and big!) gesture feeds our network of local relationships.
We give, we receive, our objects in everyday life remind us of the people we care for.
It has concrete benefits in the now, already.
But also- come what may, we already have done the work to know we will have each other.
And that is a beautiful and reassuring thing.
I haven't had to pay for a TV in years because the system has been demanding such crazy turnover and almost everyone has a spare