Bridging the Paradox

I've been thinking about the isms. Why haven't either of the two main ones worked? Socialism and Capitalism?

To me, socialism feeds on pain and suffering. It seeks to find blame in others and seek redress. Its aim is to "get you to do good for me".

The aim of capitalism on the other hand is "get me to do good for me". In the process, it ends up killing anybody who stays out of the game.

Socialism won't work unless everybody agrees with its goals and acts accordingly in good faith. Capitalism won't work for everyone unless everybody can play on a more-or-less level playing field.

Is there something that can be done to find "common ground"? Can the paradox between capitalism and socialism be bridged?

Maybe there's a different way to look at it. Maybe instead of looking at the ideology we can look at the idea that it is based on. Maybe we can look at the "is" behind the "ism".

For socialism its equality and for capitalism its opportunity.

Equality of what? And opportunity for what?

Equality of esteem. Opportunity to be free.

For capitalsim, money is the source of both - a LOT for some, nothing for others. Socialism provides equally little of either.

Lets step outside the bounds of these isms. What does a person want? Esteem in society and freedom.

What's so bad about that? Just that usually we increase our self-esteem by putting others down and we think we're free when we impose our freedom on others. That's why neither of the isms will work.

So what's the bottom line?

If we can feel our self-esteem growing when we give (not just show) respect to others and if we feel free when we enable others to be free, then the game is no longer a zero-sum game.

There in lies the challenge for each person regardless of which ism they worship.