All we have is each other

This post was first published on our sister blog, At the grassroots. It’s very rare that I would cross post between the two blogs these because they’re both, separate, stand alone projects. However, given that a key part of what happens with At the grassroots, and also on this blog, is the promotion of community solidarity in the face of numerous attempts to divide us and get us at each others throats, I think it’s appropriate to re-publish this post here.

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Here are a few brief thoughts to ponder, and hopefully act upon, as we start out in 2025…

We live in unsettling times. It feels as if we're in a period of rapid change where it's hard to keep up with what's going on, let alone understand the dynamics behind the situation. It's also starting to feel like the safety nets we were assured would be there to protect us through difficult times are starting to fray and split.

It's in times such as these when there's so much uncertainty and fear that we need to remember we have each other. When the system fails us, we can all pitch in to offer mutual aid and solidarity to each other to collectively get us through the hard times. Ignore the divide and rule merchants doing the bidding of those who presume to rule us who want us at each others throats. Working together, we can not only make up for the shortcomings of a failing system, we can start to build the new world we want to see. One that's equitable, just, sane and sustainable and most importantly of all, where power lies with each and everyone of us at the grassroots.

The divide and rule merchants will not be letting up in 2025. If anything, they’ll be intensifying their efforts. That means we all have to work harder to stop them dividing our communities, making it harder, if not impossible, for us to build the better world that we want and deserve.

We’ve written a few posts on the themes of building united communities and defeating the divide and rule merchants. As a reminder, here they are:

Building radical change at the grassroots - a dip into the archives 5.12.24

In an age of rampant neo-liberalism, society is ever more fractured and polarised. Precarious employment conditions are dumping more people on zero hours and short term contracts. Solidarity in the workplace is under attack. An increase in buy to let and homes of multiple occupation means community solidarity in our neighbourhoods is crumbling as people move in and out on short term lets, not staying long enough to generate a sense of belonging.

Don't let them divide us 25.11.24

From our experience of working on grassroots community projects, they generally attract a fairly wide range of people. What unites them all is the desire to work together on something that will deliver tangible results and make their neighbourhood a better place to live. Additional side benefits are meeting new people, making new friends, sharing skills and learning new ones. All of these things help to build a sense of community where people are willing to help each other out.

Security when the s**t hits the fan 18.11.24

We follow a wide range of people on various social media channels for an equally wide range of reasons. They range from allies to people who need to have a very close eye kept on them, and everything in between. A few of the characters we follow could best be described as ‘lone wolf survivalists’. Their plan for when the s**t hits the fan is to head off to a pre-prepared bolthole in a remote rural area, armed to the teeth and prepared to sit it out/shoot it out until the crisis is over.

A sense of belonging 29.10.24

The title of this blog is a very clear indication of our beliefs that organic radical change can only come from the grassroots. Any form of top down change is essentially a coup without any real legitimacy. A key point about working from the grassroots is the need for a sense of community. When we say community, we mean a physically based one where people interact with each other face to face in real life, not some so called online one.

Building neighbourhood solidarity and resilience 23.10.24

With the grassroots community projects we promote and do our level best to support, there's one key fundamental and that's generating a sense of neighbourhood solidarity. We’re not talking about an exclusive sense of solidarity centred on one particular group – we’re talking about the kind that respects the variety of people that go to make up a neighbourhood.

After reading at least some of these pieces, hopefully you’ll get an idea of why we think building solidarity at the grassroots is vital. Also, we hope you’ll understand that At the grassroots isn’t a fluffy feel good project – we’re deadly serious about building change from the grassroots upwards with strong, united communities being a vital part of the foundations for this.

Dave A