What is MAC? (A: “A Vehicle for Socialist Change”)
OCDSA’s Mutual Aid Committee, affectionately abbreviated to “MAC”, has been one of the chapter’s longest operating undertakings. Following the Marxist ideal of a society sharing goods and services according to ability and need, MAC’s work, directly within the chapter and with members of the community at large, has long been the focus of the group, even before our formal establishment as a committee in 2026.
MAC works with community partners to provide meals and groceries to the county’s at-risk and unhoused populations.
What does MAC do?
In the pandemic years, MAC provided taillight services for free to the community in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, and helped provide groceries to low-income community members directly at their doors during lockdown. Following the easing of social distancing restrictions, MAC worked with community partners to provide meals and groceries to the county’s at-risk and unhoused populations, helped get medical supplies to besieged countries through our partners at Not Just Tourists, established close ties with other mutual aid organizations such as Costa Mesa Mutual Aid, Lucha, and 714 Mutual Aid, and responded to individual requests from members and non-members alike for support with material, emotional, and social needs.
What does it take to join MAC?
MAC takes a friendly “as you are” approach to service, accepting members regardless of their experience with mutual aid endeavors, and works within their abilities to help empower them through direct work with the community. MAC meets twice a month virtually, provides onsite training at events to help members and volunteers find their footing, and co-hosts events regularly with our community partners. MAC works within the comfortability of our members, taking into consideration people’s interests, capacities, abilities and disabilities, diversity considerations, and opinions to operate horizontally, reciprocally, and in a participatory manner.
Grocery packing nights serve as equal parts socials, networking events, and direct actions.
How has MAC been a vehicle for socialist change in OC?
Because it is the nature of MAC events to involve direct action and accessibility, they are often some of the first events new members attend. Lower-key MAC events like our “cookovers” or grocery packing nights serve as equal parts socials, networking events, and direct actions, while more involved events allow members to interact with orgs outside of DSA to cross-pollinate. MAC has been a powerful tool for OCDSA and its members to demonstrate that we actively stand by our ideals, are friendly with and supportive of the community at large, and that the nurturing, prosocial world that Marx envisioned is possible, even within the belly of the beast
What do our members have to say?
NH: “Our goal is creating a community where a core value is lifting each other up. We want to build this into the fabric of our community, with systems that provide necessary aid to those in need, with the understanding that at some point, we will also need aid. During my time with OCDSA's Mutual Aid committee, I have had the opportunity to collaborate with other mutual aid groups in OC to foster community and help build and strengthen these systems. The organizing skills I have learned have been invaluable, but even more so, the connections we have made with these incredible people have made a major impact on me. It's been said before that without hope, no one would have the drive to do this work, and I wholeheartedly agree. My cup overflows with hope when I see the overwhelming number of kind-hearted, dedicated people who are activated. If everyone engaged in mutual aid, the world would be a better place, but I also think that every person would be happier, less lonely, and more fulfilled.”
PB: “Being a member of MAC is a personal reminder for myself that there’s a need out there, there are like-minded people who want to help fill it, and that though the world can seem discouraging and that I alone can feel powerless to change it, I can at least shape a better place in my corner.”
SB: “DSA-MAC is a true demonstration of community and people’s ability to rely on each other when capitalism tries to make everything so scarce and isolated.”
ZR: “To me, mutual aid means helping people with what they need without expectations or administrative barriers and being able to be helped when I need it. Being a member of MAC makes me feel like I have a community of people who will support me, and also it gives me space to help others when I am able to and that what I have to give means something.”
AL: "As a disabled person I often feel invisible and erased from society. Our needs are often forgotten about by the government and even our fellow man. For me that stopped when I joined the DSA and MAC. As both a member of MAC and someone who benefits from the help it provides, I felt a sense of community that I wasn’t sure was even possible. I felt seen and supported. My comrades put hard work and dedication into our services every week to provide mutual aid to our communities, where like me, people are seen, not discarded."