Mutual aid; a factor of evolution

The work of Kropotkin clarifies the history and thus the difference between mutual aid and the one-sided charity that is widespread today.
The latter is always characterized by a relationship of dependency - and thus offers the opportunity for abuse by the supposed benefactor.
Furthermore, Kropotkin shows that the shortening of the evolutionary mechanisms to the "fight of everyone against everyone" falls short.

Authors who, from today's perspective and in the face of current research, were far ahead of their time were often misunderstood or simply ignored by their contemporaries. And even if an excerpt from an extensive work is always subjective, it still offers a middle ground between subsuming under a catchphrase on the one hand, and intensive preoccupation with the author and his work on the other. If you want to deal intensively with the work, please refer to the full text, which is available as public domain in the internet.