The Communists Should Have Sought Enlightenment

    My search for improved understanding of economics obviously dragged me across the age-old false dichotomy of Capitalism vs Communism. In this day and age, if you point out the many problems with Capitalism, you are labeled a Communist...which is a sad because it prevents us from having intelligent discussions about economics. That said, I am not a Communist and this is not a comparison or a rant about our economic system, but rather an observation and some funny imaginings.

Note on my economic philosophy:
I think there are a great many people like me that like the ideas of cooperation over competition, intelligent management of resources over Social Darwinism, a healthy balance of ideological ambition with methodological efficiency, and a desire to be sustainable. The best way to describe my ideology is probably a Structuralist form of economic philosophy.

    When I look at the many things communist regimes have done wrong (granted most were just authoritarian regimes that leveraged the populism of "communism") I notice that there is one thing that they did really wrong...and it was CULTURE. They tried to force people to do the right thing, rather than teach them HOW and WHY to do the right thing. Egalitarianism is a beautiful thing to strive for, but you can't force it upon a population who doesn't understand why it is important. It's the same with cooperation, you can't "force" people to cooperate. So we can see why an authoritarian approach didn't work for forming an egalitarian society. Sadly enough, even though we use a very similar authoritarian cultural approach in capitalism (yes your workplace is a dictatorship, tell your boss to "fuck off" and then tell me how you voted yourself out of being fired), it marries well with an economic system that values hierarchy and competition.
    This leads me to another observation, and that is about the culture of Buddhism. The Buddhist tradition has thousands of years of development, and it seems to value the ideas of equality, living frugally, sharing and harmony. This strikes me as fairly compatible with the spirit of communism (the whole "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" bit), but is prewrapped and ready to be adopted by proponents of that economic system.

Note on my religious background:
I am an Atheist and I do not think religion (i.e. ideological dogma) of any kind is good, but I do think Buddhism is probably one of the more benevolent religions.

So just to tie things up, I just started imagining what would have happened if those two things had met up in a serious way, and think they would have made interesting bed-fellows. I don't suggest either of these things, but if you are already a communist with culturally authoritarian tendencies, perhaps you should start looking into Buddhism.

How to love #MeToo too much

I recently brought up the observation that either victims were coming out about sexual assault disproportionally more frequently during elections or hearings, or at the least the media was making it seem that way. When I suggested that the optics were bad...BAM...I got called names, I got called an enemy of the movement...my intelligence and empathy were put in question, I was accused of blaming the victim.
    I started trying to clarify my position...I told them I believed the victims and I believe every case should be taken seriously, I want them to get all the support and investigations they were owed, and that I am not demanding that they come out only under certain circumstances...just that we not create a culture in which they think they only get support when their accuser is a powerful person is in the public eye. My point was optics are a fact...even for the victims, and they have to weigh and be mindful of those factors. I pointed out that victims are NOT being well-served by coming out at these times, they are thrust into the public eye, with death threats, their families being harassed, etc. And yes, I even suggested that if it continues this way, it could become a political tool that is used with untruthful accusations. I also pointed out that by not allowing anyone to question the motivation...they are actually running cover for those who want to use the victim for political gain. The screaming and insults continued.
    Now at this point, you probably have an opinion of whether you agree or disagree with me.  Now if you are one of those who disagrees with me, and you think I deserved to be screamed at, insulted, and called an enemy...I want you to ask yourself some important questions...are you changing minds...are you creating an atmosphere that is making it easier for people to support victims or are you poisoning it? Are you even making it safer for victims? I'm a completely fallible ape, I'm not trying to pump myself up...but I will say I do activism to protect women and their rights and the policies and candidates I support provide a strong record of this, to the best of my discernment I objectively treat women respectfully in my daily life, I call out misogyny...if I am the enemy...your criteria are bizarre. These experiences have made me not want to touch the topic, I have to chant the mantra "the victims are separate from the SJWs, the victims are separate from the SJWs." I understand people are passionate...but consider that being the loudest and the angriest...does not mean you are the most EFFECTIVE...and may even hurt your cause.