Just an update on the request for help received by Erin of Lurking Rhythmically, she not only received enough donations to purchase a carry pistol but had some money left over:
I have been advised by certain knowledgeable people that I should not disclose the exact amount I raised lest I invoke the dread gaze of the IRS, but I do want to say that you folks went far above and beyond what was necessary to help me acquire a carry pistol, a permit, and training. I will be sending out thank-you notes later this week.
I don’t mention this solely because I want to demonstrate the goodwill of the gunny community, but I also want to bring it up as a demonstration of mutual aid succeeding. We’re deluded by the state and its supporters that we individual are unable to help one another, we’re told that the state is necessary to ensure all have what they need. Of course such statements are lies and acts of charity such as the above mentioned prove how well helping one another can work.
Mutual aid happens whenever one person comes to the assistance of another. Donating money to a family who recently lost everything is an act of mutual aid, helping neighbors clean up their property and rebuild after a flood is an act of mutual aid, and helping a person in need obtain the tools necessary for self-defense is mutual aid.
One thing I’ve witnessed as our society moves more towards statism is the reduction of mutual aid. When somebody loses their job but still needs to pay their bills and feed their families they are less likely to be helped by their fellow neighbor, instead they turn to the state and because the state has already stolen money from the populace to fund its welfare system individuals are less inclined to help one another. Its a vicious cycle, individuals refrain from helping one another because they’ve been forcefully stolen from to fund the state’s welfare system, and the state continues to point to the apathy they created as proof that money must be stolen to help those in need. We don’t need to be enslaved to this vicious cycle, we can break free of it, we need only help on another.
Time and time again I witness exceptionally generosity from the gunny community and it makes me absolutely proud to be apart of it.