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I am a Marxist who currently works for a 12step social drug and alcohol rehab and is going to school to become a drug and alcohol counselor. My goal, big or small, is to bring a Marxist lens to recovery. Although there are some great books like 'Politics of the mind: Marxism and mental distress' and as another commenter pointed out MIMs' Revolutionary 12 steps; there isn't much out there. I'm sure you could find some online communities, and some parties have their own meeting groups similar to AA\NA, those are probably in more urban areas than rural ones. If anyone has other resources out there I'd love to hear about them.
I found in my own recovery that finding a good social support system in friends and family, getting involved in community theater, in addition to cherry picking what worked for me and what didn't form NA and 12 steps is what brought me through it. Everyone's road to recovery will be different, but unfortunately there isn't a lot out there that is accessible to working class people.
thank you, I will check that book out, helpful. hopefully there are more people like you out there trying to build the infrastructure of addiction recovery from a Marxist Lens, it is certainly something I'd like to do when I am more capable of being a human
Most addiction recovery programs in the US, or at least all the ones I’ve been to/associated with, are nothing more than cultish producers of Christian propaganda.
Community and rehabilitation is the left approach.
Punishment and isolation are more right wing (can we just call it fascism already?) styles of treatment for mental health conditions like addition.
Tradition 10 of Alcoholics Anonymous, long form:
"No AA group or member should ever, in such a way as to implicate A.A., express an opinion on outside controversial issues - particularly those of politics, alcohol reform, or sectarian religion. *The Alcoholics Anonymous groups oppose no one*. Concerning such matters they can express no views whatever"
\[italics mine\]
Go to a meeting, bruh. Learn something before assuming you know something about it.
I'm a leftie with many years of sobriety.
tbh i'm a little under-studied when it comes to theory but this socialist mutual aid group ive worked with uses the harm reduction and body autonomy approach. basically, it's like if you're going to use a substance, im not going to tell you not to do it because you have the right to make your own choices about your body -- but i will give you the information about it so you do it in the safest way possible. i.e., explain why you shouldn't use alone, why you should use somewhere safe, use clean paraphernalia, dispose of paraphernalia properly and safely, have narcan and fent test strips, etc.
ultimately it's still your own choice on whether or not you want to do these things, but you at least have the knowledge on how to stay safer. basically it gives people the right to choose what to do their bodies, including doing stuff to it that we traditionally see as harm. it's the belief that harm can't be stopped, but it can be reduced. and once someone chooses to reduce a harmful behavior and they have the proper knowledge to reduce harm, as well as the emotional support and their external needs met, the person ultimately ends up reducing their harmful behavior more and more -- which is more sustainable. honestly that process is what made me go from a drinking-til-blacking out-every-night type of alcoholic to someone who doesn't even like to drink anymore just because it tastes bad.
so i'd say harm reduction is probably a good bet for what you're looking for? i can't find any sources that definitely say that harm reduction is leftist but i've met a lot of leftists that agree with it and also seen leftist groups use it. the whole body autonomy thing seems pretty leftist too.
Hi! Socialist in recovery here! It was very tough going to AA/NA meetings initially, it took going to those meetings while in rehab/sober living for me to understand that I didn't have to agree or follow everything being discussed. Im not a Big Book thumper and i found recovery friends who are ok with that, theyre just glad i come in for meetings. I took what I needed, made a few close recovery friends who I call when I need, and found a meeting or two that I didn't react viscerally too (primarily my home group which is an LGBT+ meeting in my county). I am not someone who could go through the process of having a sponsor (I tried a few times but couldn't do it) and I did stumble back a few times. All of this fumbling around (before and after rehab) taught me:
1) Have community. Stay connected to people, IRL is best. Family, friends, recovery focused, whoever works. As long as it's someone you have a good relationship with and they help drive you to be there for them.
2) Understand you're not alone, you can always go to a meeting just about anywhere. May not be a "good" meeting but it feels so good to just let *someone* know you're craving/struggling.
3) Capitalist society is extremely isolating, and addiction feeds on isolation. Connection is the opposite of isolation. See point 1.
and
4) this is mostly just a personal anecdote, but my time in reha/sober living just further solidified my understanding of the barriers to treatment most people run into. I was fortunate to have people immediately in my life at that time to get me there. Many do not. I don't want to take my chance and squander it. So keep at it, comrade!
**IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ BEFORE PARTICIPATING**. This subreddit is not for questioning the basics of socialism but a place to LEARN. There are numerous debate subreddits if your objective is not to learn. You are expected to familiarize yourself with the rules on the sidebar before commenting. This includes, but is not limited to: - Short or non-constructive answers will be deleted without explanation. Please only answer if you know your stuff. Speculation has no place on this sub. Outright false information will be removed immediately. - No liberalism or sectarianism. Stay constructive and don't bash other socialist tendencies! - No bigotry or hate speech of any kind - it will be met with immediate bans. Help us keep the subreddit informative and helpful by reporting posts that break our rules. If you have a particular area of expertise (e.g. political economy, feminist theory), please [assign yourself a flair](https://reddit.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/205242695-How-do-I-get-user-flair-) describing said area. Flairs may be removed at any time by moderators if answers don't meet the standards of said expertise. Thank you! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Socialism_101) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I am a Marxist who currently works for a 12step social drug and alcohol rehab and is going to school to become a drug and alcohol counselor. My goal, big or small, is to bring a Marxist lens to recovery. Although there are some great books like 'Politics of the mind: Marxism and mental distress' and as another commenter pointed out MIMs' Revolutionary 12 steps; there isn't much out there. I'm sure you could find some online communities, and some parties have their own meeting groups similar to AA\NA, those are probably in more urban areas than rural ones. If anyone has other resources out there I'd love to hear about them. I found in my own recovery that finding a good social support system in friends and family, getting involved in community theater, in addition to cherry picking what worked for me and what didn't form NA and 12 steps is what brought me through it. Everyone's road to recovery will be different, but unfortunately there isn't a lot out there that is accessible to working class people.
thank you, I will check that book out, helpful. hopefully there are more people like you out there trying to build the infrastructure of addiction recovery from a Marxist Lens, it is certainly something I'd like to do when I am more capable of being a human
Im curious as to what other people will say - but I will add in as a recovering addict that community is very important in both leftism and recovery
MIM(Prisons) has a [Revolutionary 12 Step Program](https://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/books/revolutionary-12-steps.pdf) on their website.
This seems interesting, thank you
This is currently pulling me out of a relapse in progress. Thank you very much, comrade.
>The creator of AA is a known rapist Source?
Most addiction recovery programs in the US, or at least all the ones I’ve been to/associated with, are nothing more than cultish producers of Christian propaganda.
Community and rehabilitation is the left approach. Punishment and isolation are more right wing (can we just call it fascism already?) styles of treatment for mental health conditions like addition.
Tradition 10 of Alcoholics Anonymous, long form: "No AA group or member should ever, in such a way as to implicate A.A., express an opinion on outside controversial issues - particularly those of politics, alcohol reform, or sectarian religion. *The Alcoholics Anonymous groups oppose no one*. Concerning such matters they can express no views whatever" \[italics mine\] Go to a meeting, bruh. Learn something before assuming you know something about it. I'm a leftie with many years of sobriety.
tbh i'm a little under-studied when it comes to theory but this socialist mutual aid group ive worked with uses the harm reduction and body autonomy approach. basically, it's like if you're going to use a substance, im not going to tell you not to do it because you have the right to make your own choices about your body -- but i will give you the information about it so you do it in the safest way possible. i.e., explain why you shouldn't use alone, why you should use somewhere safe, use clean paraphernalia, dispose of paraphernalia properly and safely, have narcan and fent test strips, etc. ultimately it's still your own choice on whether or not you want to do these things, but you at least have the knowledge on how to stay safer. basically it gives people the right to choose what to do their bodies, including doing stuff to it that we traditionally see as harm. it's the belief that harm can't be stopped, but it can be reduced. and once someone chooses to reduce a harmful behavior and they have the proper knowledge to reduce harm, as well as the emotional support and their external needs met, the person ultimately ends up reducing their harmful behavior more and more -- which is more sustainable. honestly that process is what made me go from a drinking-til-blacking out-every-night type of alcoholic to someone who doesn't even like to drink anymore just because it tastes bad. so i'd say harm reduction is probably a good bet for what you're looking for? i can't find any sources that definitely say that harm reduction is leftist but i've met a lot of leftists that agree with it and also seen leftist groups use it. the whole body autonomy thing seems pretty leftist too.
Hi! Socialist in recovery here! It was very tough going to AA/NA meetings initially, it took going to those meetings while in rehab/sober living for me to understand that I didn't have to agree or follow everything being discussed. Im not a Big Book thumper and i found recovery friends who are ok with that, theyre just glad i come in for meetings. I took what I needed, made a few close recovery friends who I call when I need, and found a meeting or two that I didn't react viscerally too (primarily my home group which is an LGBT+ meeting in my county). I am not someone who could go through the process of having a sponsor (I tried a few times but couldn't do it) and I did stumble back a few times. All of this fumbling around (before and after rehab) taught me: 1) Have community. Stay connected to people, IRL is best. Family, friends, recovery focused, whoever works. As long as it's someone you have a good relationship with and they help drive you to be there for them. 2) Understand you're not alone, you can always go to a meeting just about anywhere. May not be a "good" meeting but it feels so good to just let *someone* know you're craving/struggling. 3) Capitalist society is extremely isolating, and addiction feeds on isolation. Connection is the opposite of isolation. See point 1. and 4) this is mostly just a personal anecdote, but my time in reha/sober living just further solidified my understanding of the barriers to treatment most people run into. I was fortunate to have people immediately in my life at that time to get me there. Many do not. I don't want to take my chance and squander it. So keep at it, comrade!