A-Infos (en) Russia, AIT: Mutual assistance in Crimea (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Wars destroy the value of human life. Wars contribute to the 
brutalization of people and bring out the worst in them... These 
assumptions have long been commonplace throughout human history. But 
homo sapiens are social beings. And social instincts for mutual 
assistance paradoxically erupt in what would seem to be the most bleak, 
difficult, and tragic situations. --- In times of natural disasters, 
wars, and epidemics, people, previously isolated and selfish, suddenly, 
spontaneously, without any orders or commands, sometimes without even 
realizing what they're doing, begin to behave like... people! They rush 
to help one another, asking for no benefit or reward, often risking 
their own lives. And this is the great hope of Anarchism: that even in 
modern society, permeated through and through by atomization, 
alienation, the thirst for domination and material success at the 
expense of others, not all is lost. That hope for a new, better world 
lives on-if not in our minds, then at least in our hearts.

Such thoughts come to mind when reading, for example, reports from 
Crimea today. The peninsula is going through difficult times, subjected 
to systematic bombing and shelling by the Ukrainian army-despite the 
fact that Kyiv still considers Crimeans its subjects. Any government 
considers the lives of "ordinary people" ("friends" or "foes") to be 
worthless compared to its interests of power and domination. As a result 
of these attacks, not only civilians are killed. Populations in many 
areas are left without power, water, fuel, and sometimes even food. We 
have already written about how residents, unable to receive sufficient 
assistance from the Russian authorities or faced with impenetrable 
bureaucracy, are organizing themselves to help. Amid days of blackouts, 
residents of Yalta are lighting fires in their yards and cooking soup, 
distributing it to their children. Volunteers deliver bottled drinking 
water, cereals, canned goods, wet wipes, generators, and fuel to remote 
small villages in northern Crimea (where there are no large stores). ( 
https://aitrus.info/node/6377 )

On August 19, a Ukrainian airstrike sparked fires in the Yalta area. 
It's unclear whether this was the cause of the subsequent events or 
whether the extremely hot summer played a role. Either way, the fire 
spread to a specially protected natural area near Autka. The forest fire 
is being fanned by strong winds.

A state of emergency has been declared in the Yalta Mountain Forest 
Reserve. "Work is being conducted in difficult-to-reach areas on steep 
slopes using backpack fire extinguishers. Rescuers are laying hose lines 
across the rocky massif. Firefighting is being complicated by wind and 
abnormally hot weather," the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations 
stated 
(https://krym.aif.ru/incidents/ogon-v-urochishche-temira-kak-tushat-lesnoy-pozhar-v-yaltinskom-zapovednike).

However, firefighting isn't just for those whose job it is. Ordinary 
people have taken the initiative. Volunteers have taken up the cause.

29-year-old Alexander from Yalta jokingly calls himself an employee of 
the "Ministry of Good Deeds." He and a friend built a car with their own 
hands to travel in. Now the car has found another purpose. Together, 
they drive along difficult and steep mountain roads, delivering food and 
firefighting equipment.

"There are a lot of volunteers who want to help, but they can't carry a 
backpack, and they might have to walk across a mountain pass with one," 
he says. "We bring them there and do the actual firefighting."

Like other locals, he knows the area well. This is a huge help. 
"Yesterday we were working on a supply line from that direction. Today 
we're working from the Darsan direction, and yesterday we were working 
from the Yuzhny portal. This area is called Vasilyevka," says Alexander.

He emphasizes the mutual assistance of local residents: "We were born 
and raised in Vaslyivka. It's like, you know, when it's raining, hiding 
under a canopy. (...) That is, any local resident will help in one way 
or another, however they can. Someone will help us with water, someone 
will help with food, someone will help financially, someone will deliver 
gasoline, someone will just give people a ride back and forth, someone 
will participate. These are all local residents who have a very 
proactive stance on life. All residents of the South Coast of Crimea. 
Our nature is important to us," he concludes. "Together, we know the 
roads, we know where to go to get somewhere. That's all. We spare 
nothing for our city." ( https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Bu3kJ95cD/ )

So, an extreme situation doesn't necessarily trigger a desire to profit 
from the suffering and misfortune of others in today's atomized and 
fractured society. It can also spark the awakening of social skills such 
as self-organization, self-governance, initiative, and mutual 
assistance. It's just that we want this awakening to occur in everyday, 
normal life as well. Then, something greater can emerge from it-that 
very potential new world.

https://aitrus.info/node/6379
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Subscribe/Unsubscribe https://ainfos.ca/mailman/listinfo/a-infos-en
Archive: http://ainfos.ca/en