Abandon Restlessness and Quietly Build a Good Commune

Mutual aid is by no means a simple matter. Consider just these two points:

1. Most people in the Commune are the ones paying money. Although they get protection, that protection is intangible and feels weak—unlike buying a bottle of water, where you can see the product. So people don't feel it, and their enthusiasm is doubtful.

2. This is a professional undertaking, involving medicine, actuarial science, claims handling, the internet, and more. Ignore this, and people habitually take things for granted this way and that, so that many things fail to withstand scrutiny.

So this dooms mutual aid to being no simple matter. In the past we very likely oversimplified it.

In the past, promoting the Commune was our first task. When no one accepted it, we had to shout loudly and lobby everywhere, force things through, and give so-called speeches. My colleagues and I gritted our teeth and went on TED, on television, and to industry forums, hoping more people would learn about the Commune. And we joined the crowd chasing various awards... Though necessary, how restless it all seemed. But now we have over a million members; even if half left, the Commune could keep running. This time and space are enough for us to calm down and carefully study the details of the mutual aid cause.

Judging from the current situation, the pressures facing mutual aid are still far from arriving. No platform has yet experienced large-scale payout pressure, so this so-called prosperity is an illusion; when that day comes, it is hard to say what will happen. So we should prepare for a rainy day, think about the essence, and make progress or changes.

So—calm down, abandon restlessness, remove the froth, return to the essence, think and act seriously, and solve the core issues and the problems that will be hard to avoid in the future. That is what we should do. KangAi Commune's goal is to be a Century Commune; its foundation must be solid. Many things in the world are noisy and grand, come fast and go fast; for those involved, they may not represent true responsibility.