Woke is Communism /  by Mirena Rhee

Woke is a modern form of communism. It begins with social discontent. People who feel dissatisfied or lack meaningful work are drawn to ideologies that promise moral purpose and improvement of society. Ideologists redirect this dissatisfaction toward those perceived to have more, framing redistribution as justice.

The ideologists are well-meaning people with resources who are either too lazy or don’t know how to run a business, and instead of giving people jobs, give them ideas. Now they have found purpose all of a sudden.

There are two ways of improving society. One is entrepreneurial creation, which generates new value through free enterprise. It makes something from nothing. Moving atoms is the strong force. Very difficult to do. The ideologists don’t know how to do the difficult things and don’t wanna do them. The other is redistribution, which moves existing resources from one group to another. Communism prioritizes redistribution over creation.

The recurring features of communism are restriction of free speech, restriction of private enterprise, suppression of dissent, use of coercion and terror, and rewriting of history. The pattern follows a sequence. Speech is limited, economic freedom is curtailed, repression escalates. Then the ideologists use the dissatisfied as cat’s paw to start killing people.

The Communists don’t want to get people to think differently. No way. The Communist directive is to exterminate the people who are enemy of their ideology.

Looks familiar? Terror of random crazies roaming the streets and knifing people, weak-minded crazies assassinating presidents, but it starts with people walking out of grocery stores with bags of stuff without paying. Then is locking up the toothpaste behind thick glass. And then come government-run stores. I have seen it. I lived it every day for 18 long years growing up. I used to press my nose to the glass on stores with goods locked behind cages, and I used to line up at 4 a.m. in front of government stores to buy milk. I remember in school we had to read papers mocking the imperialist West. I remember a U.S. governor mocking Tesla that their stock is going down.

Contemporary woke ideology shows this pattern. They locked people up during Covid, started shutting them up, and every dissent in speech was destroyed, then curtailed business, then the riots started and people stormed my grocery store in Chelsea. I saw this as the proletariat revolution. The ideologists tested this in the U.S. Now they have a government-run store in New York City. They have already started executing business people using the vulnerable as cat’s paw.

Wouldn't it be great if someone can make a great business, treat people well, and pay them a nice wage? But this is so difficult to do. Most business people will tell you it’s like splitting atoms or eating glass. The hope is, I believe, the next round of automation to make this easier, to make enterprise more productive, energy extraction more effective, and less glass-eating.

Channels and Robots on Mars /  by Mirena Rhee

Growing up in communist Bulgaria as a little girl who was obsessed with space and Mars, I had very little information as to the latest advances in science, so I didn't know that NASA’s Mariner 9, and later the Viking 1 and Viking 2 missions, had already disproved the channels on Mars. So I remember when I was 10 or 12 and later reading books about the channels on Mars, which were, of course, outdated, but, you know, it still was so very pleasurable to read and still fascinating and supported my dreams and imagination about Mars. And now, due to JPL's robots on Mars, I can actually do Mars paintings and use my imagination to build based on what the robots see and inspire me in a new and different way.