The Communist Pleasure Activism Helping Erase Medical Debt in Appalachia

November 9, 2019 12:00 PM

Mutual Aid Lube, a “vegan plant-based lube made by queers for queers,” partners with RIP Medical Debt, an organization committed to buying up and forgiving medical debt all across the country. So far, they have been able to help forgive $55,000 of medical debt in Appalachia.
posted by Lexica (13 comments total)

A+ praxis, comrades.
posted by Makwa at 12:20 PM on November 9, 2019 [15 favorites]

Just when I thought I understood intersectionality, this comes along.
posted by allegedly at 12:32 PM on November 9, 2019 [9 favorites]

Their map of Appalachia is total fucking genius.
posted by joeyh at 12:36 PM on November 9, 2019 [11 favorites]

Feel-good story in every way.
posted by neroli at 1:02 PM on November 9, 2019 [7 favorites]

Gay Mountain Communism Today, Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space Communism Tomorrow!
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 1:46 PM on November 9, 2019 [17 favorites]

[raises a slippery fist in solidarity]
posted by bartleby at 2:08 PM on November 9, 2019 [11 favorites]

im comparing the fantastic Communist Pleasure to the English Pleasure of the horse post a few days ago

also i love this project and the article's a good overview of the issues involved! hell yeah
posted by gaybobbie at 3:41 PM on November 9, 2019 [1 favorite]

"I did a lot of research first, and it’s been a slow and steady march"

Fisting wisdom applied to the commercial sphere.
posted by howfar at 3:47 PM on November 9, 2019 [9 favorites]

posted by howfar
Fisting wisdom indeed.
posted by bartleby at 9:32 PM on November 9, 2019 [5 favorites]

This is wonderful, and their Instagram is fantastic. So many opossums and Dolly Partons!
posted by Sparky Buttons at 3:30 AM on November 10, 2019

This is great.

But, to chase after very minor things that aren't important, is non-vegan lube a thing that exists? I guess maybe there are animal derived thickeners? Now I'm imagining a community of foodie kinksters who insist on using schmaltz, constantly negotiating with their dates who prefer ghee.
posted by eotvos at 11:52 AM on November 10, 2019 [1 favorite]

non-vegan lube a thing that exists?
Gelatin's the primary concern there, though I'm not ruling out your ghee vs. schmaltz proposal
posted by CrystalDave at 12:23 PM on November 10, 2019 [4 favorites]

Anybody here know how to read IRS Form 990s? The 2017 report for RIP Medical Debt appears to show a lot of assets and expenses compared to debt retired. Part IX (p. 10) is the relevant summary.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 3:41 PM on November 10, 2019