2020 Self Portrait Epilogue

October 11, 2020

I haven’t written much since the end of June. Until recently I hadn’t had thoughts worthy of writing. I am swimming again in oceanic depths. In fact, I got distracted mid-sentence by a free dive on the relationship between human/animal nature, self-interest vs. community, morality and ethics, capitalism, utopia and enlightenment. That dive will be the subject of yet another essay but segues nicely here to my still shifting paradigm(s). I had been thinking about all that is wrong with the no-longer-shining-example, America, and I realized that the fucking lefty-louies are right — income inequality is far and away the biggest hurdle we face, which means capitalism is the wrong system. I do not yet know what I am, but I am no longer a capitalist. Money is not the root of all evil. Profit motive is.

Actually, I do know what I am — I am Syncretistic. I discovered this term a few weeks ago in another of Dr. Boaz’s youtube-casts. Syncretism is the result of the interplay between dominant cultures and/or religions as they assimilate bits and pieces of each other due to contact from trade routes. My spiritual beliefs are certainly a syncretism of aspects of Kaballah, Bhuddism and Taoism. I now see that I am an economic syncretist as well.

That too is a detail for another day. When I told Liz that I was no longer a capitalist, she said “you are no longer interested in making money?” That happens to be somewhat true, but that is not at all what I said. Yet, I would not be surprised if 60–70% of people…