Unironically leftist parties / coops / associations / etc should be looking at every charity currently being controlled by a religious authority of some kind and creating a direct replacement to those services which does not require the individual to submit to any particular ideology or authority to receive services.
Where I’m from clothing drives were huge because people couldn’t afford to get clothes for their kids. Do you have any idea how powerful it is for conservative organizations to fulfill that type of welfare? That sort of thing is precisely why rural people in the USA genuinely believe that conservatives are “Fighting for their rights” or whatever.
This is something we definitely need more of!
Food Not Bombs is one organization worth getting involved in. I know my local one does three hot meal shares a week, has a weekly “free market” for clothing and toiletry items, and distributes groceries, pet items, and menstrual products. Every group is independently organized, though, so your local one may vary - and you may have the opportunity to add something based on the needs of your community.
If you know about any leftist organizations doing things like this, add them to this post!
To add on, look into your local interfaith orgs! While non religious mutual aid is super important, religion/religious community IS vital to some religious people. Interfaith orgs especially are committed to compassion and understanding between different religions, and are usually way less insistent you agree with them than like an evangelical church.
Additionally, religious orgs have more experience in filling needs that non religious groups may overlook such as:
Do you know any kosher or halal recipes for your soup kitchen? Off the top of your head, can you tell me what makes a meal kosher or halal?
If a homeless Muslim woman needs a new hijab, do you have any to give her? What about a kippah for a Jewish man? Do you have any headscarves for orthodox christian women or Mennonite women? Do you list any of these items on your clothing drive donation lists?
Does your free little library have copies of religious affiliated texts that will resonate with religious people? (Many religious ppl believe leftists want to eradicate religion esp after stalin infamously banned Christian orthodox practices in the Soviet union-something MANY older russian orthodox Christians remember)
Does your homeless shelter have any prayer mats or shabbat candles? Do you know where to get them? Do you know how to select the correct ones?
Not all of these are essential to surviving but it does demonstrate compassion for people and recognizes their nonphysical needs. It also cuts into the power of conservative religious groups by demonstrating that others care. And just like idk how else to say it but….religious people deserve to be treated respectfully and have their spiritual needs considered. You don’t have to agree with them and if they’re bigots you certainly don’t have to cater to that but religious people overall do deserve at least some small considerations.
As a final note, I’ve focused on abrahamic religions for this bc that’s what I know but different places have different prominent religions! Also if you’re delivering mutal aid to Native American communities, ask about their religious needs and what you can do to accommodate them.
Religious people deserve to be treated respectfully and have their spiritual needs considered.
This is an excellent point! I tend to emphasize local groups anyway, but definitely look for local interfaith orgs since the religious makeup and needs of your community will be unique.
Finally, I can say the book I co-wrote with Frater Acher is officially out. Find copies at your usual sources, in paaperback: hardbacks may still be available from Hadean’s Shop or other shops too!
“It wasn’t something I did arbitrarily. When I read Takahashi-sensei’s source material, I thought, ‘This character has that kind of personality so they might do this kind of thing.’ For example: Joey is the hot-blooded ‘big bro’ character -> He might like martial arts -> I suppose he likes wrestling -> I bet he likes Inoki -> The chin! That’s how it went.” — Takahiro Kagami, 2012.
Red means stop. No more negotiation, something has crossed a line (too painful, something bad that wasn’t negotiated, etc.)
Yellow means that you need a break or that something is too much, or that if the top continues then you’re going to “red” soon.
Green means that things are going well and you want to continue if not ramp it up a little.
While a bottom might blurt out red or yellow, I’ve never seen a bottom volunteer “green”. It’s usually said in answer to when a top is checking in to make sure everything is okay. Asking “How are you?” and getting an answer of “fine” or “okay” might mean the bottom is just on autopilot and reflexively answering. Asking “What’s your color?” and getting “green” or “I was very close to yellow when you stopped” is much better.
One of my favorite doms to watch at parties was doing a pre-scene negotiation with someone he hadn’t played with before and said something like “Now, just between you and me here ;-) , my favorite color is yellow. It’s not about taking anything I can dish out. I promise you, I can always go harder. I want to know how you’re doing. I’ll likely yellow you, on purpose, a few times, just to find out where your limits are and then aim for a little below that. I don’t want to hear ‘green green green, green green red’ because then the scene’s over. I want some indication of how you’re doing and when you’re getting close to what you can handle, okay?”
And then, whenever she yellowed, he praised her. And why wouldn’t he?? She gave him vital information that allowed the both of them to have more fun!
Recently I have heard some discussions on also adding BLUE to this system for medical issues. It would function like RED but also in one word alert your partner you are having a medical issue, e.g. asthma attack, body cramps, low blood sugar, dizziness or some other sysmtom that is a problem for you. If you have already discussed medical issue with you partner, which you should do, blue might key them into something they can respond to with that knowledge to help rather than red and having to explain further.
Example: if I have asthma and communicate with my partner that it’s been bothing me recently and here is where my inhaler will be during a scene and I start having breathing issues and can’t stop coughing or catch my breathe to make out long or multiple words, I can say blue and they would know to get my inhaler. Or they would know to ask medical related questions in relation to stopping rather than thinking they pushed too hard.
I hadnt heard of the BLUE addition, but that’s great. Thanks for spreading the word about it.
Oddly I don’t see a single occupation listed besides the last where they’ll murder you just because they’re having a bad day and automatically get away with it.
I have only love for the USPS.
reminder that cops have also been logging covid deaths (after refusing to comply with masking orders nationwide) as on-duty fatalities, as well as everything from heart attacks to car crashes to friendly fire. a really significant amount of cop deaths aren’t actually due to Criminal Violence, but it’s significant that the cops act as though *all* of them are.
