Based on my influence from certain authors and my lived experience: love is the will to exist within a community. It gives you the tools to grow, adapt, and be with people who also want to grow with you to adapt to the material conditions of the world.
Is it love to fuck a body? And then be devastated when the owner of that body decides to change its gender? I don't think so.
Is it love to lock an adult child out of opportunities so that they remain psychologically youthful and dependent? I don't think so.
Is it love to donate to a church out of guilt?
Is it love to fight an imperialist war for your country?
When we think of love in terms of things which capital uses to maintain itself, we end up feeling broken and alienated, even if we're succeeding at times.
Rather, I think we can think of love as...
a friend who's there for you even when you're inconvenient.
a parent who helps a trans child be their best possible self.
a neighborhood that shares food and emergency supplies when disaster strikes, and a neighborhood that shares food and resources when there's no disaster.
a surveilled food worker sneaking something out to a homeless person on-the-clock.
a lover who pieces together the broken self-esteem of their partner(s).
a worker striking because a friend was injured on the clock.
a socialist org that plants trees under whose shade it will never sit.
Love is the things that capital can't touch. It's the parts of living with others that oppose alienation. It's being immersed in humanity without a price tag.
Based on my influence from certain authors and my lived experience: love is the will to exist within a community. It gives you the tools to grow, adapt, and be with people who also want to grow with you to adapt to the material conditions of the world.
Is it love to fuck a body? And then be devastated when the owner of that body decides to change its gender? I don't think so.
Is it love to lock an adult child out of opportunities so that they remain psychologically youthful and dependent? I don't think so.
Is it love to donate to a church out of guilt?
Is it love to fight an imperialist war for your country?
When we think of love in terms of things which capital uses to maintain itself, we end up feeling broken and alienated, even if we're succeeding at times.
Rather, I think we can think of love as...
a friend who's there for you even when you're inconvenient.
a parent who helps a trans child be their best possible self.
a neighborhood that shares food and emergency supplies when disaster strikes, and a neighborhood that shares food and resources when there's no disaster.
a surveilled food worker sneaking something out to a homeless person on-the-clock.
a lover who pieces together the broken self-esteem of their partner(s).
a worker striking because a friend was injured on the clock.
a socialist org that plants trees under whose shade it will never sit.
Love is the things that capital can't touch. It's the parts of living with others that oppose alienation. It's being immersed in humanity without a price tag.