Recently a fediverse user posted about the gaucheness of political fundraising on the fediverse when so many individuals on the fediverse are not getting the mutual aid they need and deserve. This has been the starting point of a wider discourse about mutual aid.

I want to zoom out a bit and talk about a wider issue that has been on my mind for a while. The issue being the presence of a strong division of classes within the population of the fediverse and how this class division presents itself when it comes to the topic of mutual aid.

Defining the Classes

Firstly, I must clarify what I mean by class divisions here by defining said classes. The fediverse reflects many of the class divisions present in wider society albeit on a much smaller scale and with certain quirks unique to the demographics present.

For the purposes of this essay, I’d like to broadly divide the fediverse into two classes. The upper middle-class or in Marxist terms, the petite-bourgeoise and the poor or the proletariat. For the sake of general clarity, I’ll use “upper middle-class” and “poor” instead of the equivalent Marxist jargon.

In the case of the fediverse, when I talk about the upper middle-class I am talking about workers, usually (but not always) in various technology adjacent fields who make USD$100,000 or above per year. Such people are aplenty on the fediverse as the still niche nature of using a decentralized social network attracts this kind of upper middle-class technologist worker in droves. An example of a instance that is a haven for this kind of person is hachyderm.io.

As for the poor, since I have already defined the only other class relevant to this essay, can broadly be classified as “the rest of us”. This includes, both people who work (working poor) and those who don’t and any group that is broadly financially marginalized in some way or the other. Or as is the most relevant in this discussion – the group of people who are asking for mutual aid on the fediverse.

Intersections of Class and Other Marginalizations and the Contradictions Thereof

Now that I have defined the two relevant classes I can get to the heart of the matter.

Of course, when talking about the fediverse we must also consider the various marginalized groups and how the marginalizations intersect with class and what the contradictions within these intersections are.

To best demonstrate this, I will use an example. Consider two people: one is a upper-middle class white trans tech worker named Sam. The other is a working poor black trans service worker named Sarah. These are fictional for the purposes of this essay but are very much the kind of people who materially exist on the fediverse.

Let us consider both their class and their other marginalizations. Sam’s class interests lie very much within the upper middle class and their race gives them a certain amount of privilege but they are also very much marginalized on the axis of the transgender identity.

Sarah on the other hand is marginalized on multiple axis, they are working poor which means that they are in a very precarious position financially at all times. They have also the added “bonus” of being both black and trans, racial and gender identity that is extremely marginalized in our society.

Now, let us talk about contradictions. Specifically in our scenario, the contradictions within Sam. Sam’s transgender identity puts them in solidarity with Sarah on one axis. However, a contradiction arises when it comes to the matter of their class interests vs. their shared marginalizations.

How does Sam resolve this contradiction within themselves? Do they align along the axis of their transgender identity and therefore with Sarah in matters of mutual aid? Or does Sam instead align solely with their class identity foregoing any solidarity with Sarah?

In the fediverse, such contradictions are present at all times. It is present when a person like Sarah is asking for help with rent, food, or medical bills. It is present when a person like Sam writes snide post about how people like Sarah are begging or how they don’t want to see people like them on their timeline or how such people are scammers looking to make a easy buck.

Of course, I don’t think that every upper middle-class person on the fediverse is always putting their class interests above everything else. But it is certainly a contradiction that exists within the larger community and I think in the people that have not resolved this contradiction it has become an antagonistic contradiction that is harmful to both themselves and to the wider community.

It is harmful to themselves because while a upper middle-class person is much more financially secure than a poor person, their financial gains are still very much at the mercy of the capitalist class. In Marxist terms, they are not the bourgeoisie and they do not own the means of production. Simply put, they are workers who have more money than the poor. As such it is a short sighted position for them to align purely with their class instead of a wider solidarity with all of their fellow human beings in the less privileged classes.

It is also harmful to the wider community as such antagonistic contradictions weaken us all and deprive us of the little resources that can currently be reclaimed from the capitalist class. Indeed, this is the kind of class division that is encouraged by and of material benefit to the capitalist class. It is a form of the divide and conquer tactic which leaves the upper middle-class vulnerable to capitalist predation as opposed to being a part of a unified front against our real enemies, the capitalists.

Resolving the Contradiction

If you are a upper middle-class person reading this and thinking “yeah I have this contradiction within me, how do I resolve it?”.

Start by thinking deeply about what your various axis of solidarity with your fellow human beings are. Tell the capitalist in your head to shut the fuck up. Focus instead on how you can use your resources to directly help a member of your community. Donate to folks’ mutual aid fundraisers where possible and boost them always.

Consider the very real power of mutual aid. Consider that this very blog and the instance it is a blog for (Ten Forward) is made possible by the continued mutual financial assistance of Ten Forward members. Each month’s income and expense report is proof of this fact.

Consider if you give $100 to a person who then uses it to buy food for themselves and their family you have made a positive material and direct impact on that person and their family. Mutual aid works and indeed it is the only thing that continues to work in a time of increasing precarity for us all.

For my Ten Forward comrades

I want to make explicit what has up to now been implicit Ten Forward policy. Mutual aid requests have always been and will always be okay to post and share on Ten Forward.

Furthermore, for any Ten Forward member receives derogatory comments on their mutual aid posts: this is a offence that should be reported and I will then take the required moderation action.

In the interest of making our community stronger, I am also instituting a new policy. Any Ten Forward member making or sharing a mutual aid post is welcome to DM the admin account @guinan@tenforward.social with a link or mention the account in the post itself and I will boost/reboost the post from that admin account when I am able.

Let us help each other and make the world a better place.