Donkanofski

I grew up in a very religious community at the tail end of the Cold War and Apartheid. Ideologies end up having strange bedfellows, and we tend to believe the particular cocktail we were born into. Aged 13, I can still remember an argument in my Maths class when I suggested to someone that Jesus was probably a Communist. I was a Church-three-times-a-week boy, so this was a pro-Communist sentiment, and it didn't go down very well. I didn't know about Mao and Stalin, but I did know about a loaf of bread and a fish that fed a lot of poor people. I probably should have been doing my Maths, but my nickname isn't Donkey because I am quiet.

The Apartheid Government was one of the regimes being supported by the UK and America in order to hold the wall against Communism. Mandela was released in 1990, the Berlin Wall fell in 1991, and South Africa held its Apartheid ending elections in 1994. Many members of the African National Congress still call each other Comrade.

Like someone who grew up watching 'The Wizard of Oz', then went to watch 'Wicked', I ended up studying Money because I hated the control it had over me. One of my first courses at University was 'Thinking about Business' (TAB). A couple of friends and I used to call it 'Free Market Indocrination' (FMI) and came wearing red shirts. Twenty years later, we still greet each other with a variation of our nicknames with the addition of a Russianised '... anofski'. Donkanofski, Tapiwanalotaflopski, and Robanobadropski were the Comrades-in-Chief.

As someone who could be described as a Capitalist Activist... I am clearly a convert. But I am probably more accurately described as an Anti-Capitalist's Capitalist. I still believe that money doesn't mix well with certain ideas. My blood still boils enough at Corporate culture, that I far prefer living off a Basic Income (Generated by Capital) to working for money.

In particular, I have big concerns about money mixing with Housing, Health, Law, and Medicine. I still believe there are good ideas, and good business ideas. They overlap significantly, but there are some good ideas that get perverted by money, and there are some great ideas that are impossible (/not a good idea) to monetize. I call myself a Neoliberal, but that is now as much of a swear word as me calling Jesus a Communist in Durban in 1993 South Africa. "The Establishment" is the Wicked Witch, and the torches are out to burn things down. I believe some things are better run privately, and some things are better run by Institutions that are democratically controlled. We are gradually learning which is which as different places try different things. Through trial and error, and global best practice.

Nothing is as simple as any ideology claims. The world is messy. The Wicked Witch of the West has a completely different version of the truth. A truth that works for everyone is hard to come to, if we aren't able to pause and look at things from other perspectives.

Что связывает нас

Король Георгий, Кайзер Вильгельм и Царь Николай были первыми кузенами. Их бабушка была королева Виктория. Когда мы говорим об Восточном Весте, легко забыть, что это в основном относится к холодной войне. «Западный» не белый. Большие идеологические разногласия прошлого века вызвали кровопролитие и беспорядки во всем мире. Должны ли мы иметь монархов? Должны ли мы иметь диктаторов? Должны ли мы придерживаться правила большинства? Должны ли мы дать людям возможность самостоятельно выбирать? Должны ли потребности общин быть поставлены выше потребностей отдельных лиц? Что происходит, когда сталкиваются потребности разных сообществ и отдельных лиц? Государства-нации создали историю, в которой разные места были принципиально разными, с «народом». Стоит разгадать эти подразделения, чтобы увидеть, что нас связывает.

Холодная война

Facilitation

Twitter is useful for expanding into other worlds. Lots of people use it as a soapbox, but I have found it more helpful if the communication is two way. It is the best filter I know of for getting thought pieces to chip away at my ignorance about the world. Twitter isn't the best facilitator of discussion. For that I think you need context. I like smaller Whatsapp groups for that. For a real life analogy, that can be closer to sitting around a table rather than standing in a hall.

I do have a Facebook 'bubble problem' in that I find it more difficult to get a balanced view of the world because the people I know aren't a balanced starting point. Most of my arguments are with people who actually mostly agree with me. The fine points of the disagreements set the blood boiling, and hide more common ground than they create.

If I could wave a wand, I would like a Social Media platform with facilitators. A combination of fact checkers and skilled communicators who can pull together all the noise. Those facilitators could also explicitly make introductions to people with different world views who are also trying to understand the other side.

Noise

Even there I worry I am after a unicorn. I don't think much of the divide is intellectual, rational or even ideological. I think the problem comes down to individuals knowing each other in tangible ways. Less about debate, and more about connection.

There isn't much point in critique or feedback if there isn't first common ground. A buffer of positive sentiment that makes you actually care what the other person thinks. 

First find a reason to like someone, then you can sort out any problems.