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so. some of the most conservative people i've ever met are in the homeless/housing insecure groups that i am part of. like. i would guess more people are conservative and deeply so at that than not. which was hugely hugely shocking to me.
but as i've gotten to know folks and situations better, it actually makes a ton of sense to me. folks living on the streets are fighting harder than anybody else on the chain for survival. when ur at that level, u need to make other groups 'the enemy.'
and non-profits and churches feed the FUCK into this. when u have to prove you are deserving and worth the help ur getting, that sets it up so that there are other people who aren't.
that is: i'm not like THAT person. i'm a GOOD person. I deserve this can of food. THAT person doesn't.
where a middle class liberal may do the platitudes of 'anti-racism' with their 'it doesn't matter if ur black white green or purple!'--folks fighting for survival have to be like THEY are the bad people u should kick out of center or whose tent u shld confiscate.
which is not to say--you know poor folk are only racist/hateful bcz they're fighting for survival! i don't doubt for a second that the asshole that just stood and complained to me about 'teh mexkins' for the last twenty minutes is a full of shit white supremacist.
but it IS to say. i need all the folks that spent 90 billion pounds of ink waxing poetic about the 'economic anxiety' of the dude that um, has an actual job and a house to live in, to spend some time contemplating what it means-
to be actually poor. and to actually have to fight for resources while sitting under the powerful thumb of Deserving or Not Deserving narrative.
to contemplate 'white supremacy' when the person spewing it *actually* gets to eat or not eat based on actual white supremacy. (illegals don't get social services! they dont like it, go back to where they came from!)
contemplate 'solidarity' when it means you may or may not eat. i will tell you right now, i will cut a bitch without a second thought if it means my child is not going hungry or not living on the streets.
homeless/housing insecure people are human beings. there's going to be racist and vile hateful people in every population of human beings u get around. but. survival--that brings out the fight or flight instincts in everybody.
and ur most committed to loving black white or purple people will ALSO cut a bitch in a heart beat if it means being able to eat for first time in a two days.
which says to me. if we are going to end white supremacy? if we are going to end racism? we HAVE to take a good long hard look at the system of resource distribution. 'civility' is a bullshit distraction. 'being nice' is a bullshit distraction.
bcz when it's a question of survival? u will fight. period. and u will use any methods at ur disposal to fight.
so the question is. how do we survive. how do create a system of survival. which nurtures and develops cooperation *even if you can't stand the person ur with*. that nurtures and develops community *even if you literally vomit at the sound of ur neighbor's voice*.
i am not interested in making people like each other. i AM interested in making sure that everybody has food and a warm spot to stay during the polar vortex.
somebody tell me how to make capitalism do that.
while we're waiting for that explanation, let me just say that the quickest way to end this survival white supremacy is to end the 501c3/church control over who is 'deserving' and 'not deserving.'
if ur non-profit/church requires ID or 'proof' or any of the other social sorters--see what you can do to end it.
