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Thoughts on mutual aid: it's good if it actually organizes people - this needs to be the primary aspect otherwise it's not mutual aid because mutual is by definition between parties. Role of communist formations in mutual aid work is to help coordinate it and organize people
and lend assistance in other ways. Many anarchists and revisionists (I saw PSL did a 'Socialist Santa Claus' event in Albuquerque - stupid) do it for its own sake simply because it's a nice thing to do - this is opportunism because it is no different in form than missionary work
Communist mutual aid work is done to address and organize people around an issue and steel them for class struggle -- for example people talk about FTP branches as "garden maoists" -- we promote the development of community gardens IN FOOD DESERTS to highlight the
inability and unwillingness of the capitalist class to provide healthy food to the masses in these communities -- this can be used as a launching pad for sharper class struggles and a way to develop community contacts. People talk about how Communists
have as our main task the organization of the class struggle but if nobody knows who you are you're going to be restricted to entryism in already existing struggles -- Communists have to organize and launch these things and to do so requires footholds among the people
which mutual aid activity offers -- nobody is going to stand around and talk politics with people they don't know but if you're doing work in the community you will be taken more seriously. The rejection wholesale of mutual aid by many Maoists is
rooted in the desire for "combat" -- there can be no combat led by Communists around day to day issues and winning of tangible revindications (I hate that word) without a mass base. Mass bases are built through patient work of all types and mutual aid is one aspect
But as the movement grows and develops mutual aid should not be the primary or even secondary activity because the masses themselves, with our help, will be doing these tasks -- mutual aid is a starting point, not the be all/end all and nobody has ever argued for it being such
So in sum the ultra/left anti-mutual aid wind is a strawman and a desire to put cart before horse. At the current state of the Communist movement in the US where there are very weak roots among the proletariat/semi/proletariat this work gains us footholds and can also serve
as a form of propaganda, when you're working as an open Communist in a community you're probably the first Communist these people have met and it's important to make a good impression, shouting about Mao or trying to provoke a fight with the police initially will alienate you
from elders and others whereas engaging in mutual aid type work will help create a favorable impression but comrades should indeed remember the importance of organizing and recruiting class fighters for the struggle
also regarding FTP - FTP is not exclusively a mutual aid organization and speaking as chair of FTP-STL I'd say that we're doing fairly well in rectifying the economist wind that blew part of last year not just here but in other chapters as well
it's possible to rectify things without releasing bombastic statements and self-flagellation or splits -- some people can learn from us on that point -- when you err you fix it and keep moving -- the thing with Maoists is that a lot of us thrive on drama and that's why MLM has
a garbage reputation among the American left and most of the masses associate the RCP with maoism -- that's why it's good that FTP exists to actually give new people an outlet for energy besides writing trashy hit pieces and handing them out to harried and bored workers
