Is it weird to resent when non-communists do good things?
Is it weird to resent when non-communists do good things?
Whenever I see people working community farms or churches helping homeless people I feel like it’s a bad thing because people may get their needs met within capitalism and we should be doing it instead as part of base building. When I was reading ‘Cows save the planet’ and hearing about petite bourgeoisie doing things that relatively help the environment I was thinking that we are screwed as communists if [people are made to think that] entrepreneurs are saving the planet. Then I, of course realized we are screwed instead because of climate apocalypse. Is it bad if a church who is communist at heart is doing good work without intending to transcend capitalism as opposed to an anti-capitalist group doing the same? Am I being irrational, and/or is this normal?
It is an understandable but misguided sentiment. There is plenty of work for the communist orgs to do, I think, and some of the more progressive community orgs may even be friendly or ambivalent to the communists. Maybe instead we should be relieved that our relatives and neighbours are finding ways to try to improve their situation, even though they lack a radical perspective and critique of capitalist society. We know charity has limits and deficiencies. Does anywhere have a food bank that has good enough food in good enough quantities, with no hoops to jump through?
I think it’s a little bit unhealthy at the very least
Communists don't have a monopoly on good deeds. We are trying to make a systematic change while they are looking to make a difference on a individual level.
Volunteer with them and help out. People who are kind are more receptive towards our ideals in my experience, and not everyone has to be part of the vanguard.
maybe feeling defensive you couldn't provide those things as a communist. im happy when i see suffering alleviated. there's plenty to go around.
Focusing on it is definitely unhealthy; you let that resentment build and you're down a path of pessimism and a view that the working class cannot be saved. We just have to remember that there are reasons why people flock to things like mutual aid and uphold them as exemplary actions: it's personal, (relatively) easy to accomplish compared to base-building, and given it's limited scope satisfying to see you do something that directly helps a handful of those most stricken by capitalist hegemony.
Trying to work with them can be frustrating, but unless they're actively hostile towards communists or deviations that counter the true needs of the working class, let them be. Use your energy to do what you know is right: organizing & agitating for socialism in a communist party.
I’m all for mutual aid as long as it elevates consciousness about the failures of the current society and is used to build trust in the revolutionary movement. The Black Panthers built trust and strength by feeding people, and we should follow their example. The problem is when people think that the mere act is revolutionary; When anarchists are willing to make a community farm, but anything more is “authoritarian.” Or when it’s used as a pressure release valve to uphold capitalism; when I tried to talk about socialism with my grandparents their arguments were that nice individuals do good things within capitalism, so why transcend it. Because billionaires sometimes give to charities everything is fine actually.
Honestly, kind of a bit of an awful attitude to have. As others have said, it is understandable, but an attitude we should fight in ourselves.
Hoping for people's lives to worsen under capitalism is monstrous, accelerationism is not a path we should go down. We care about people, we want to help people, we shouldn't look at people like statistics, but as living breathing people.
Those people who sacrifice their time and money to help others are already halfway towards becoming socialists, these are the people we should work with, support and educate.
That last part is the key here. These people understand something is wrong with the system, even if they personally benefit from it. They are some of the people who are most likely to be interested in socialist ideas (even if you have to avoid scary words like "Socialism" or "Communism" at first).
Charity work is a band-aid solution, not a proper permanent fix, it doesn't tackle the root causes of these issues at all, so it doesn't actually do anything to prevent these problems from occurring in the first place. What it does do, is make people's lives under capitalism a little less horrible, makes them more likely to survive, and when the revolution comes, those people will support it. Hell, they might even be inspired to start it. You help a homeless guy one day, and he could end up being your country's Lenin in the future.
Reading about what theorists called ethical capitalism would probably help you understand why you feel the way that you do.