Whenever I see people working community farms or churches helping homeless people I feel like it’s a bad thing because people may get their needs met within capitalism and we should be doing it instead as part of base building. When I was reading ‘Cows save the planet’ and hearing about petite bourgeoisie doing things that relatively help the environment I was thinking that we are screwed as communists if [people are made to think that] entrepreneurs are saving the planet. Then I, of course realized we are screwed instead because of climate apocalypse. Is it bad if a church who is communist at heart is doing good work without intending to transcend capitalism as opposed to an anti-capitalist group doing the same? Am I being irrational, and/or is this normal?
Focusing on it is definitely unhealthy; you let that resentment build and you’re down a path of pessimism and a view that the working class cannot be saved. We just have to remember that there are reasons why people flock to things like mutual aid and uphold them as exemplary actions: it’s personal, (relatively) easy to accomplish compared to base-building, and given it’s limited scope satisfying to see you do something that directly helps a handful of those most stricken by capitalist hegemony.
Trying to work with them can be frustrating, but unless they’re actively hostile towards communists or deviations that counter the true needs of the working class, let them be. Use your energy to do what you know is right: organizing & agitating for socialism in a communist party.
I’m all for mutual aid as long as it elevates consciousness about the failures of the current society and is used to build trust in the revolutionary movement. The Black Panthers built trust and strength by feeding people, and we should follow their example. The problem is when people think that the mere act is revolutionary; When anarchists are willing to make a community farm, but anything more is “authoritarian.” Or when it’s used as a pressure release valve to uphold capitalism; when I tried to talk about socialism with my grandparents their arguments were that nice individuals do good things within capitalism, so why transcend it. Because billionaires sometimes give to charities everything is fine actually.