Evolving Together: Why You Should Read Kropotkin’s Mutual Aid by Chris Walker

NinaIllingworth October 20, 2021November 5, 2022 a better way to live, anarchism, anarchist literature, anarchist theory, anti-Indigenous bigotry, anticapitalism, antifascism, Book Blog, book review, Bookish Bits, Books, capitalism, Charles Darwin, Chris Walker, class analysis, class war, cooperation, Darwinism, David Graeber, direct democracy, evolution, fascism, FotB, Friends of the Blog, Herbert Spence, JA5, Karl Marx, Kropotkin, labor class analysis, labor class reading, left wing theory, Lewis Henry Morgan, Malthusian violence, mutual aid, Mutual Aid: A Factor Of Evolution, peasant politics, Petr Kropotkin, Racism, religion, Social Darwinism, Socialism, ST2, Theory, Thomas Huxley, Twin Rabbit, Walker, working together

Editor’s note: well friends; if I can write again, that means I can edit again. And so, please welcome back everyone’s favorite Wobbly: NIDC collective writer and analyst, Chris Walker.

Evolving Together

I’m not surprised that two out of every five Americans believe God designed human beings within the last 10,000 years. That was me just as I started college; I rejected Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution (or at least the brutish concept of “survival of the fittest”). Doubt, just like faith, is strictly personal, but the kind of evolution I’m most interested in *is* personal. My leftist friends could debate me all they wanted, but until I picked up the literature and absorbed the concepts, I was not convinced. Sure, YouTube, Twitter threads, and anything else I found online gave a certain exposure I didn’t get in high school, but the medium is never well suited for anything complicated (to say nothing of what content is incentivized). A new leftist must absorb the source material, but it sure does help to know where to start, right?

I started with the Communist Manifesto, The Conquest Of Bread, and several other texts, not understanding (or agreeing) with all the concepts the first time around. But it was Kropotkin’s Mutual Aid: A Factor Of Evolution that gave me a deeper understanding of how life propagated and thrived, not through a war of all against all, but through cooperation. It fundamentally changed how I viewed the world, with very few prerequisites demanded of the reader’s knowledge. Because of that, I find it to be the perfect introductory text for a new leftist, and it remains the most important book I have ever read.

Mutual Aid was most helpful in attacking the foundations of an amoral, dog-eat-dog mentality and, by extension, the main justification for capitalism, fascism, and the ruling class altogether. As Darwin notes in The Descent Of Man, the struggle for existence in great numbers is not about individuals but about the ability to work together. It was Thomas Huxley and Herbert Spencer that twisted the theory of natural selection into a question of “who are the fittest?” and all of the implications of eugenics that comes with it. Kropotkin takes issue with this corrupted version of evolution, and expands upon Darwin’s work with a simple statement:

“Sociability is as much of a law of nature as human struggle.”

Immediately after, we observe many species in the animal kingdom, specifically how sheer population numbers show how the more “gregarious” species, even those that appear vulnerable on their own, thrive, while the more aggressive species do not. The examination is extended to human development and anthropology, which I found straightforward, unpretentious, and comprehensive.

As David Graeber points out, ”Kropotkin had revealed behavior in the natural world that was exactly the opposite of selfishness: the entire game of Darwinists now is to find some reason, any reason, to continue to insist that even the most playful, loving, whimsical, heroically self-sacrificing, or sociable behavior is really selfish after all.” The evidence for this argument is steadily compiled up to the final two chapters, which I found just as hard-hitting as the first:

“To attribute the industrial progress of our century to the war of each against all… is to reason like the man who, knowing not the causes of rain, attributes it to the victim he has immolated before his clay idol.”

A “clay idol” is an all too appropriate description of my Southern Baptist upbringing. Kropotkin does not discredit the whole of religion however, saying “there is not the slightest doubt that the great bulk of their members are moved by the same mutual-aid feelings which are common to all mankind.” But Kropotkin doesn’t pull punches either, particularly at religious leaders:

“The clergy are so anxious to prove that all that comes from human nature is sin, and that all good in man has a supernatural origin, that they mostly ignore the facts which cannot be produced as an example of higher inspiration or grace, coming from above.”

Teaching that humans are sinful from birth is quite compatible with Social Darwinism and Malthusian violence, that hard work will make the poor “worthy of heaven.” That practically sounds like the motto at Auschwitz. The embrace of Social Darwinism and the mistrust of the peasantry can explain much about how the ruling class sets themselves up as protectors. Paternalism and divine right are baked into justifications of their existence. So when the so-called “founding fathers” of the United States advocate for a “cooling saucer,” it comes from a fear and mistrust of the mob as old as time.

Debates about the role of the peasantry are also critical to understanding leftist discourse throughout the years, and if the born-again socialist were so inclined to dive into an unfamiliar debate, they may. For those with a moderate amount of reading under their belt, Mutual Aid addresses pitfalls that affect all leftists. It is critical to an understanding of how to wage revolution with the full potential of humanity, rather than fall back to “survival of the fittest” concepts.

Having said that, while the leftist who rejects Kropotkin by name will be mildly annoyed at Kropotkin’s gestures toward ideals of an anarchist society, they will find very little else objectionable. It is a worthy read for all.

Kropotkin is not unassailable, however. As Twin Rabbit notes in the “Stolen Anarchy” video, much of everything we know about how societies develop is tainted by a dependency on Lewis Henry Morgan and Iroquois cosplay. Everyone relied on Morgan’s “research”, including Marx, Bakunin, and Kropotkin. Twin Rabbit also specifically calls out Kropotkin in the comments on the video: “Kropotkin instead kept pointing out how great Natives were for a lot of things, but they ultimately fell short of his superior philosophy. Kropotkin used Natives as a springboard to talk about something else, Rink and Boas disputed the concept of ‘Primitive Natives’ had any meaning at all beyond a literary trope.” In short, this doesn’t invalidate the whole of the evidence, but Kropotkin ignored people of color and used racist slurs just like many other white scholars have, including Darwin.

It is because of these flaws that I implore working class folks to read more. You will not completely agree with everything you read, and some books will actively piss you off. That’s ok. But if Mutual Aid was the only thing you had ever read (and it appears some actively brag about not reading critical leftist theory), you will know little besides the fact that anyone who ever taught you about human nature was probably wrong.

If you find yourself too exhausted or overwhelmed to read, I encourage you to push through. It took me more than a year to read this 226-page-text completely! I’m not proud of that, but I have understood my obsessive-compulsive tendencies and attention deficits well enough to try new things. Audiobooks did not work well with my brain’s ability to hear words clearly, so I am learning how to speed-read in hopes that my attention will not wane before I have finished. What works for you may look completely different.

If you have suggestions on how to consume critical leftist content, especially reading online, please post in the comments or reach out to me on Twitter. Every bit will help me with my own reading struggles. I hope we can evolve together, and I will document that growth along the way.