Hello everyone,

The /c/Literature community is launching a book club. You will be able to access the reading in Perusall, which allows for community annotations and discussions within the text. We will also be hosting book discussion posts at /c/Literature every other Saturday, along with our weekly "What are you reading?" threads.

VOTE here, and the winner will be assigned for the period of March/April.

• Kropotkin – ‘Mutual Aid’. The anarchist Peter Kropotkin explores the role of mutually beneficial cooperation and reciprocity in both the animal kingdom and human societies. Kropotkin argues against theories of social Darwinism that emphasize competition and ‘the survival of the fittest’, and instead argues that mutual aid has advantages for the survival of human and animal communities and has been promoted through natural selection. Mutual Aid is widely considered a fundamental text in anarchist communism, presenting a scientific basis for communism, whilst many biologists also consider this text an important work in the development of the biological theory of altruism.

• Luxemburg – ‘Reform or Revolution?’ This pamphlet by Marxist theorist Rosa Luxemburg has been influential in revolutionary socialist circles. In this work, Luxemburg seeks to demonstrate the inadequacy of the Reformism preached by the likes of Eduard Bernstein. Whilst still acknowledging the beneficial uses of trade unions, reformist politics, and social democracy, she argues that these methods alone cannot bring about a socialist society and that revolutionary methods are necessary. Though written at the end of the 19th century, the questions this text addresses remain important as the basic argument about how we can challenge capitalism persists.

• Taylor – ‘How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective’. A group of radical black feminists, known as The Combahee River Collective, was an organization that developed out of the anti-racist and women's liberation movements of the 1960s and 70s. In this collection, edited by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, founding members of the organization and contemporary activists reflect on the legacy of its contributions to black feminism and its impact on today's struggles. How We Get Free gets to the roots of Black feminism and shows that a truly liberatory movement must be anti-racist, anti-heteropatriarchy, anti-imperialist, and socialist.

• Various Authors – ‘Class Struggle and Mental Health: Live to Fight Another Day’. This pamphlet brings together accounts from several anarchists from around the globe about what it means to suffer from mental illness and what we, both as individuals and a movement, can do about it. Unfortunately, many of us will find the experiences detailed in the pamphlet all too familiar, but that is precisely why this selection is so relevant. (I should stress, however, that this text should not be seen nor treated as an alternative or replacement for professional help).

• Kelley – ‘Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression’. In this account of the labour, racial, and social history of Alabama, Robin Kelley details how black workers in Alabama made communism their own, blending the teachings of Marx and Lenin with those of the black church and the lessons of decades of resistance to slavery, segregation, and racist terrorism. This book offers us important lessons that activists have been drawing on since it was published three decades ago, and it remains an important piece for young organizers struggling with the questions of race, gender, class, and solidarity.

Hola Camaradas :fidel-salute-big: , Our Comrades In Texas and Mississippi are currently passing Through some Hard times :amerikkka: so if you had some Leftover Change or are a bourgeoisie Class Traitor [here are some Mutual Aid programs that you could donate to ](https://hexbear.net/post/85867? :left-unity-3:

The State and Revolution :flag-su:

:lenin-shining: :unity: :kropotkin-shining:

The Conquest of Bread :ancom:

Remember, sort by new you :LIB:

Yesterday’s megathread :sad-boi:

Follow the ChapoChat twitter account :comrade-birdie:

THEORY; it’s good for what ails you (all kinds of tendencies inside!) :RIchard-D-Wolff:

COMMUNITY CALENDAR - AN EXPERIMENT IN PROMOTING USER ORGANIZING EFFORTS :af:

Join the fresh and beautiful batch of new comms:

!genzedong@hexbear.net :deng-salute:

!agitprop@hexbear.net :allende-rhetoric:

!paganism@hexbear.net :anarchist-occult:

!neurodiverse@hexbear.net :Care-Comrade:

  • Dbumba [none/use name]
    ·
    4 years ago

    Sorry for the late night doomer post, just have to unload word vomit, but I'm feeling really demoralized with the passive acceptance of "returning to normal".

    We had an unprecedented worldwide pandemic that shut down the globe, exposed the illusion of our economy and the complete inability of one of the wealthiest countries in the world to take care of its own citizens.

    And yet, absolutely nothing has changed.

    Universal Healthcare isn't even a topic of discussion after the dems tanked Bernie. During a pandemic. Let that sink in. Too extreme for either red or blue maga, not up for discussion.

    Social protests were hijacked by the media into violent narratives to quash any sort of collective movement by the people. Nooo the big box Target is being destroyed, you know the heartless behemoth conglomerate that helped bankrupt every main street usa and now forces its residents to live on poverty wages.

    Meanwhile billionaires seized a tragedy into an opportunity for wealth accumulation, while forcing employees into perilous haphazard working conditions. The promises of even extra cleaning are being rolled back, while simultaneously using "covid" as a convenient excuse to cut unprofitable perks and protocol for employees and customers alike.

    Honestly I think most of the people in the country are perfectly fine being cucked by their capitalist overlords. The general consensus is "yeah, things are bad, but what can I do about it?" And then you just have to march on, kind of do the best you can just to get by, always treading water to keep yourself from complete drowning. They'd rather take the option that leaves them "comfortably poor". Life here is a giant open air working prison. Most people seem to just accept this reality and try to find those beer on the rooftop Shawshank Redemption moments.

    The new dark age of neo feudalism. I feel like there's no light at the end of the tunnel anymore.