Mutual Aid

The broad act of using your skills or resources to help (or, aid) someone due to a common (mutual) interest. While this is an idea as old as human civilization that applies to a ton of common experiences in day-to-day life, the term Mutual Aid was popularized by the 19th century scientist and philosopher Peter Kropotkin, and is widely considered a cornerstone of left-wing politics.

To be considered Mutual Aid, an action must be:

1) of your own accord (it isn't mutual aid if you'll be fired/punished for not doing it, for example a pizza delivery guy delivering to a house their boss assigned them is not mutual aid)

2) non-transactional (it isn't mutual aid if you're trading your help for some kind of payment, that's more along the lines of bartering)

3) horizontal in nature (as opposed to the institution-based top-down approach seen in charity or philanthropy.)

My friend wanted coffee from the vending machine but was 50 cents short. My girlfriend and I each chipped in a quarter and told our friend not to worry about paying us back. This constitutes Mutual Aid, since the three of us worked together to reach a shared goal: our friend being able to drink a cup of coffee

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Mutual Aid

Basically a softer way of asking for money. Panhandling, usually done digitally and by people who aren’t actually impoverished.

“Hey! My rent is due tomorrow, but I don’t get paid until Friday. Would you be willing to contribute a little mutual aid? Drinks on me after I get paid!”

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