holistic-radical.bsky.social
Our world is rhythms, vibrations, resonances, systems, organisms, machines: physical, tech, personal, social, and distributions of decision making power.
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OMG! I reposted this because, yes, we need to organize the many against the few predators.
I just now I notice who posted it.
@georgetakei.bsky.social is an enemy of the people, by supporting the liberal wing of the ruling class, who are fascist just under the surface, responsible for MAGA's rise.
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Well, the system that currently dominates, capitalism, will fundamentally not allow effective and long term checks on greed, because it's essence is that owners get a monopoly on the important decisions about workplace processes, so they are free to disregard others' needs if they want to.
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When I say everybody has some greed, I mean wanting more for oneself in a small way is natural, and something decent people learn to check as we go along.
The toxic greed that capitalism enables and elevates, no, I don't have that, either, and I long to live in an environment where sharing rules.
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Economies of sharing have been tried many times, with success and failure we can learn from.
Why haven't they succeeded more and had staying power?
We have to take into account that the current power structure smashes such projects, with various methods, every freaking time! Not our fault.
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Sorry but that's a very simplistic dismissal of a very complex matter, conflating lots of things and ignoring distinctions.
Our social and economic structures concentrate decision-making power in the hands of a few. That was done with coercion, over many centuries, so we have habits shaped by that.
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Greed is an emotional attitude. Everybody has some.
Politics is the distribution of decision making power among humans.
We can create structures of decision making to give everyone a say and prioritize everyone's needs. We can intentionally check greed and make sharing work.
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Do you know what dogmatism means?
You're showing that you hold your views in a dogmatic, maybe fundamentalist, way, by not being interested in discussing such issues. Or maybe you just missed my multi-post thread here.
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I'm also very concerned about the tendency to dogmatism inhibiting the growth of working class solidarity, which is the main thing that can save us from the mess we are in.
But the worst dogmatism, of course, comes in defense of our cult-like evil empire.
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So a dogmatic problem I see many atheists express is the denial that such subtle loving energy exists at all.
In their enthusiasm to reject everything supernatural, they reject aspects of physical life that I find essential.
Many of my favorite people consider themselves atheists.
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In that journey towards being cognitively whole within my sacred physical body, one of several crucial approaches these days is practicing Qigong, moving meditation to enhance the flow of chi, the subtle energy at the basis of many Asian traditions.
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Centering myself on the value of living in a physical body in a material world, and using multiple approaches to deal with the complexity of that, the first most important thing I have to do is deal with and heal the trauma that started in childhood before the cult.
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And being eclectic is a way to approach being holistic, seeing that all parts are interrelated with each other and the Whole.
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I then constructed the perspective that I've held to ever since, that dogmatism and fundamentalism are mistakes human beings can make from any point of view.
My antidote to dogmatism is eclecticism, finding the value and limitations in multiple points of view that seem to conflict.
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Seeing and focusing on the importance of how some classes oppress other classes, I completely rejected any value of not only all spirituality and religion, but also psychology and speculative fiction.
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Before too long, life led me to realize I had transferred the attitude of dogmatism and fundamentalism to these new liberating viewpoints. I'd become a fundamentalist Marxist atheist, holding my views so tightly that I invalidated everything that seemed to conflict with them.
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Okay, I can't think of how to proceed without my origin story.
I grew up in a fundamentalist Christian cult, got out of that in a large rebellion, and then evolved into embracing Marxism and atheism.
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My spirituality is focused on the sacredness of our life here, in our physical bodies, on this living planet.
Religions often denigrate the physical world, in many ways. I oppose that tendency.
I also oppose the tendency to dogmatism in any point of view, and I see that in much atheism.
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Right, MJ rocked. Good night. I'll check in tomorrow to see if you're interested in a dialogue or not.
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I will not STFU about dogmatism, which I understand, based on deep experience, to be a universal human foible, that people do from ANY point of view.
Are you curious about how I came up with this viewpoint?
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I hadn't thought about the hypocrisy angle you're talking about.
So I wonder if hypocrisy correlates with being dogmatic. Hmmm.
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In my view, most problems with various religions come from dogmatism, not the positive beliefs that people find value in.
Dogmatism is an error people can make with any point of view they find valuable and cling to, including atheism.
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Joe Biden is all those things as well. And Kamala Harris does not stand against any of that, in reality.
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Yes, and my experience after I left the cult showed me that dogmatism can happen from ANY point of view. I thought Marxism was my key to liberation, but it was not great when I was making it into a fundamentalist doctrine.
My antidote to dogmatism is being eclectic, towards being holistic.
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Well, no, people need to organize for many different needs, not just opposing the power structure. Organization is needed to carry out group activities.
Yeah, capitalism sucks and is the cause of most of humanity's problems. And the only solution is common people getting organized to bring it down.
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Dogmatism is one of the most underrated problems in human behavior; that's what makes much religion problematic. Dogmatism can be done from ANY point of view.
I exited a Christian cult in a mass rebellion, in my youth, and soon became a fundamentalist Marxist, until I realized the folly of that.
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People need to organize together to accomplish things they value, right? But never along religious lines?
I'm a member of a politically radical tradition of Witchcraft, and our local group is considering filing for tax exempt status, possibly as a religious group.
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I agree with you on the real world power dynamics. However, religions & belief in deities are incredibly diverse & complex aspects of human experience.
Most of what's problematic abt religions is due to dogmatism, not the positive beliefs involved.
Dogmatism is a big problem with atheism, as well.
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I don't believe in favorites. However,
"Power, greed, and profit, they will never feed the soul. These three shovels have dug us a deep dark hole. Compassion, understanding, and living one for all, and all for one is what it's going to take to break this fall."
- from "How Long" by Iris Dement.
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That is looking at a superficial level of our problems.
Capitalism allows a small minority to own vast amounts of property, which confers on them the power to dominate society and make the government serve their interests.
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Is that some unknown area of Lothlorien?
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Mainly from the surplus value extracted from the working classes, based on the theft of land. From there, their massive property ownership confers on them the power to dominate government and society, and thus make sure they get corporate welfare.
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No the Dems are not spot on. Their posturing about billionaires causing problems is as hollow as their pretense that they care about abortion rights, when they do nothing to defend that.
They support the evil empire that billionaires dominate. Billionaires own Dems.
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Thanks! And thanks for not intending the pun! Because I don't like that band. Subjective taste, but also Bono is objectively an oligarchy kiss ass.
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We don't have a democracy. We have a capitalist imperialist oligarchy and an evil empire that rules and ruins our world.
Rule by the people would be great but we'd have to build it from the ground up.