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
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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