Why do we call it ‘mutual aid’ when really it’s just repackaged charity 99% of the time. It’s either a loan or charity, or even a business transaction
I understand the concept of prefigurative politics but one-sided transactions do not meet the definition of mutual aid/assistance by any context to my knowledge. It’s like we copypasted a term with a well-defined meaning in order to make the status quo sound ‘hip’ and ‘cool’ and ‘radical’ while completely eschewing its actual meaning
Not to say that charity is bad (yes I understand it has bad connotations) but I’m not going to point at a goose and call it a seagull.
Seriously, under this incredibly liberalized definition of mutual aid/assistance, buying things from a store would fit the definition of providing ‘mutual aid’ to a corporation. I’m sorry but this just doesn’t cut the mustard and I hate that we’ve basically let this happen.
A fire department who responds to calls for assistance from a nearby community when its own resources are overtaxed, when said community will offer their own resources if the same situation occurs in its neighboring community? That’s what I think of.
If the fire department was exclusively providing services to that community because it wasn’t able to provide them itself or opted to contract with them for services, that wouldn’t fit the definition mutual assistance unless other things were also in play (City A provides fire services and City B in exchange does road maintenance when needed, for instance)