I'm an old school Southern Democrat. I'm Progressive and extremely to the left of modern Democrats. I believe that everyone is entitled to a standard of living and that includes a home and a mode of transportation and a mode of communication and a way to provide for themselves. I hate how the New Southern vision was sabotaged by Reagan and the Republican Party. We could've had a more inclusive and diverse South. I'm from the Gulf Coast. When I was growing up the Gulf Coast was the last bastion of Southern Democratic dominance. Republicans have taken over our area and corrupted the minds of our people. Southern Democrats are often seen as a monolith but just like the overall Democratic Party it was a big tent. I believe we can revive the Progressive tradition in the South but it's going to take effort.
I understand what you're saying and I appreciate you clarifying where you're coming from. I also understand the distinction you're making about mutual aid versus charity.
That said, I don't think the fact that I've made mutual-aid posts means my political beliefs or this post are some kind of attempt to manufacture sympathy. I'm genuinely in a difficult situation and I've asked for help because I need help. At the same time, I'm genuinely interested in politics and have been trying to explain my political tradition.
And honestly, the fact that I'm a Southern Democrat who is also strongly anti-capitalist, skeptical of concentrated wealth and power, supportive of mutual aid and sympathetic to anarchic and communist ideas shouldn't be as contradictory as some of the responses have made it sound.
I also don't expect everyone on Hexbear to agree with me. I just found it strange that so many people seemed more interested in deciding what category I belong in than actually discussing what I was saying.