hexbear
Hexbear Proposals chapo.chat matrix room.
This will be a place for site proposals and discussion before implementation on the site.
Every proposal will also be mirrored into a pinned post on the hexbear community.
Any other ideas for helping to integrate the two spaces are welcome to be commented here or messaged to me directly.
Within Hexbear Proposals you can see the history of all site proposals and react to them, indicating a vote for or against a proposal.
Sending messages will be restricted to verified and active hexbear accounts older than 1 month with their matrix id in their hexbear user profile.
All top level messages within the channel must be a Proposals (idea for changing the site), Feedback (regarding non-technical aspects of the site, for technical please use https://hexbear.net/c/feedback), or Appeals (regarding admin/moderator actions).
Discussion regarding these will be within nested threads under the post.
To gain matrix verification, all you need to do is navigate to my hexbear userprofile and click the send a secure private message including your hexbear username.
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I think the non-monetary aspect of "mutual aid" could be focused on better in this community, instead of "aid" just being solely monetary donations, we could organise groups and discussions devoted to keeping each other honest with finances, and helping each other budget, find potential sources of income, things like that. Have it work like an actual mutual aid org instead of just a donation bucket. Maybe have a monthly/weekly discussion topic about financial issues and ways to deal with them, or more emphasis on mentorships and accountability, if people have trouble organising their finances and would like someone to help keep them on track for their longer term goals.
This isn't unique to this mutual aid comm, I've seen way too many people spiral despite getting financial aid, because they don't have the emotional support network they actually need to push past their current issues. I don't think we can do things on the same level as an IRL organisation, but a little bit of help beyond just financial aid, might end up going a long way, both for the health of the comm and the people in it.
At the same time, I do recognise that being too open about locations and events is bad opsec, and I'm honestly not really sure how to square that circle.
I feel caught in this tension of paternalism vs being solution oriented, you know? I don't want to be lecturing on what a person needs to do or feel the money has strings... but also if a person is requesting the amount they are as frequently as they are - they are in a real crisis, crisis even a sudden infusion of quite substantial semi-anonymous cash (as much as hexbear could donate) won't fix because some of what's keeping them down is systemic society level issues and maybe more intractable personal health issues like mental health or chronic medical health. I could care less if they wanna service an addiction or buy ubereats (I waste plenty of money on both), that's their perogative - but I do hope there's some forward momentum and, really, a spot of cash here or there is probably not gonna be that. What I would hope for is they stabilize out of a crisis and hook into their local scene not just for aid coming to them but ways they can assist others as well but I feel so trapped by a sense that this is a paternalistic or whatever attitude!! Ugh