survival programs

[Subcomandante Marcos.]

In the US, some groups used to carry out survival programs, in the black community, poverty and lack of health care was sky high, but in europe, due to free healthcare and benefits, no one is starving or dying of treatable diseases.

Survival programes increase a causes popularity and also help the people, but apart from helping the homeless and things, what else could be done, by a group of radicals in europe?

Its annoying because the conditions are not so openly oppressive, most workers i meet do not feel opressed, they are not starving, so unlike in the poorer unindustrialised nations, and the poor parts of the US proletariat, it is harder and harder to get through to people.

[dearest chuck]

maybe those workers do not feel oppressed because... they aren't

[Subcomandante Marcos.]

if your a third worldist, fuck off, before i shove my first world exploiter foot up your super duper trooper arse.

[dearest chuck]

hey, keep on tilting at windmills all you want, it's no skin off my nose.

[Subcomandante Marcos.]

mods, i thought you banned these imbeciles?

[Invincible Summer]

mods, i thought you banned these imbeciles?

It's not like there's an auto-ban feature that scans for Third-Worldist discourse.


Anyways, to answer your OP, it's all about class consciousness. I mean, people don't feel "oppressed," but do they know that you're talking about Marxist "oppression?" Most people think of "oppression" as in feudal society where you get executed if you don't mill the baron's wheat or something.

[Subcomandante Marcos.]

HAHa trhat made my day, good post.

i know i sound crazy, but thye bit about milling wheat made me LOL :)

[Animal Farm Pig]

How about community garden farming for production of healthy, organic veggies? It's not exactly a "survival program" as such, but can provide recreation, a sense of community, better health, and can stretch the family budget. You just need to get use of a small piece of land, a little bit of equipment, and recruit the people to do it. If you believe we're going to hit peak oil sometime soon, own production of food will be a survival program.

You could also work on youth clubs for children of workers. They could include sports, lessons on the world we live in, practical tasks, community actions, academic tutoring, excursions, etc. Again, it's not a "survival program" as such, but it enriches the lives of people living in the community, and gives you to opportunity to instill good values in the youth. Working with the kids can create in-roads with the parents.

Is life really so good for all workers? I remember reading about weeks of rioting in the suburbs of Paris a couple of years ago. A German friend from East Berlin has mentioned to me social problems in the large Turkish community. I have Danish friends who are working with refugees from Iraq and Afghanistan and say that the state provided social services, while allowing survival, are not nearly enough.

Working with immigrant communities may be outside of your comfort zone, but the fact is that many are living in inhumane situations. They're in your country now, and you can either take the reactionary view of wanting to send them 'back home', or work together to create a more just society.

[Subcomandante Marcos.]

comrade, i meant survival proggrams like the breakfast for children program.

Policing the police to stop brutalisty.

stuff people need.

i want to help illegal immigrants get homes and marriges to make them legit, then they can divorce and stay here.

then they can join our revolution

[Animal Farm Pig]

comrade, i meant survival proggrams like the breakfast for children program.

Policing the police to stop brutalisty.

stuff people need.

i want to help illegal immigrants get homes and marriges to make them legit, then they can divorce and stay here.

then they can join our revolution

Right on. Glad to hear that you want to help out those who are close to death as a result of capitalism.

If starting breakfast programs and policing the police are what you're passionate about doing, you should do them. If those actions aren't needed in your part of Europe, you just need to find somewhere where they are very needed and go there and do them. International solidarity! :che: :thumbup1:

Raise awareness of the situation in <place X>, where the kids don't get breakfast, and the police break laws. It can be the case that workers who are well off do not recognize their own exploitation at the hands of capital, but they are able to recognize how other workers are exploited. Bringing the oppression of workers in other places to their attention can help to radicalize.

Recruit some comrades to go with you and take part in the actions. Maybe there will be some who cannot go along but can help with funding or fundraising or with technical assistance or in some other way. Give people the opportunity to join in the struggle.