Reds fanfic
- Thread starter E. Burke
- Start date
they spent more money in the newspapers (ie arguing over minor ideological points) than actually doing something useful.
Bookmark1995
Banned
Well, I did do an update about a TV show set in Canada in the 80s, after Canada goes red.
My idea was sitcom where John Vernon (OTL Dean Wormer of Animal House) plays a former millionaire now running his factory along collective lines. John Candy also plays a bumbling assistant. The show consists of Vernon's character learning to shed his old authoritarian management style.
Could that be something you'd see in the "Canadian Invasion?"
Exactly, that sort of show would probably be the best example of the type of show being produced in what was once Canada.
Bookmark1995
Banned
What was once Canada? Does Canada still maintain its sovereignty, or is it also absorbed into the UASR when it turns red.
There was a Trot group at my college (they might still be active), and they literally tried to sell their newspapers to everyone at every opportunity.
Also they were the kind of leftists who oppose any reforms under capitalism because those "keep the proletariat from rising up". That's part of why I left.
StratenfordWife would probably think this is Satanic New Age claptrap made to test the faith of the Anglo-Saxon Israelites.
As an American Buddhist convert, I'm particularly interested in the transmission of Buddhism to the UASR and how that would be different from OTL. I intend to explore the historical methods Buddhism was spread in the United States and would love to hear input on how it might go in this timeline.
For the readers' sake I'll outline the main ways Buddhism has entered American society historically:
Japanese Zen is one of the most widespread and probably the most established form of Buddhism in the United States. With interest sparked by the Transcendentalists, Zen Buddhism found patrons in the United States. D.T. Suzuki being the biggest recipient of this patronage. Suzuki translated many Buddhist works into English and taught Zen in California and Japan, eventually teaching some of the writers who would be known as the Beat Generation. The Beats popularized Zen further with works like Dharma Bums that influenced the Hippies, who have patronized many Zen centers throughout the United States and made Zen a major part of American's image of Japan. Zen is the most popular form of Buddhism in the United States, primarily thanks to Japanese immigrants and their
descendants who practice their traditional religion.
Tibetan Buddhism was very obscure in the United States until the invasion of Tibet by the PRC and the CIA-assisted escape of many monks from Tibet, including the Dalai Lama, head of the Gelug branch of Tibetan Buddhism and head of state of Tibet. The escape of monks from the PRC led to a minor diaspora to the India, where monks like Chögyam Trungpa were awarded scholarships or were otherwise patronized to travel to the United States. They gained popularity in the 1960s-70s and are one of the sects of Buddhism in the United States that are primarily composed of white converts, as opposed to Asian heritage Buddhists who were raised as Buddhists.
Vipassana Meditation & the Burmese tradition that came along with it are another primarily white sect in America. Ba Khin and his student S.N. Goenka taught a meditation-based form of Buddhism that caught on in the US in the 70s thanks to wealthy backers like Ruth Denison and academic elites like Leon Wright. Vipassana meditation, also known as mindfulness, has, with the help of Beat Zen begun the growth of a kind of Secular Buddhism popular among Americans who find religion distasteful but with to engage in spiritual practice. Very trendy right now among educated whites and mental health professionals like Marsha Linehan the creator of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy.
Thai Forest Buddhism is closely related to Burmese Buddhism, with a similar focus on Vipassana, though it has been less secularized in its practice in the United States. Brought to America in the 1970s by two Peace Corps workers by the names of Jack Kornfield and Joseph Goldstein, they wrote several best-selling books and opened several Buddhist centers. Of note is Thannisaro Bhikkhu, an American who moved to Thailand and ordained as a monk in the 70s, then opened the first Theravada Buddhist monastery in the United States in 1993, outside of San Diego. Thannisaro Bhikkhu is also famed for translating thousands of pages of sutras from the liturgical language of Pali into English and publishing them for free online.
Sri Lankan Theravada was popularized in the US by Bhante Gunaratana who in 1968 was invited to Washington DC to teach with other Theravada monastics at the Washington D.C. Buddhist Vihara Society. He then went on to teach graduate-level courses on Buddhism at several prestigious American Universities, furthering Buddhism's reputation in the US among the upper-classes. He has famously written Mindfulness in Plain English, a guide to vipassana meditation. He has also famously ordained the first Theravada nuns in the United States.
There are also near-countless small Buddhist communities that don't have widespread influence in the upper classes and that don't have best-selling books on the charts. Chinese Buddhism, including Chan and Pure Land, have been in the United States since the mid-19th century in great numbers, though generally organized in isolation with each community having its own temple and merely continuing traditional lay practice, without guidance from the monastic community. Cambodian, Laotian, and Vietnamese immigrants have also brought their own Buddhism, though like the Chinese, without many monks and with no monastic continuity. The lack of monasticism in these aforementioned immigrant communities is largely the cause of their isolation and lack of popularity with converts, though Taiwanese immigrants have recently established small monasteries in the US.
As you can see, Buddhism in the United States has been very much formed by WWII and the Cold War. India, Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand having academic contacts with the US are what brought their religion over. Immigrants tend to not be monks unless they've been requested by Cultural Exchange programs. And Americans who converted to Buddhism in Asia tended to be Peace Corp workers or academic researchers. Japanese Zen is the only branch in America established by an immigrant community that has gained widespread popularity among intellectuals and converts among white Americans.
So in a world where an Iron Curtain is lain between not China and the US, but South Asia and the UASR, I predict that Theravada Buddhism will find no purchase in America. However, I predict greater exchange between the Mahayana countries and America. Tibetan and Chinese monks will likely be brought over to teach Buddhism in universities much like Burmese and Thai monks were. Depending on Japan's stance on Zen,(there were many supporters of the Empire among the clergy) there could be even more Zen in the UASR than the United States. Especially with the lack of internment, which destroyed many Japantowns all over California. Perhaps without North Korea's state-worship and South Korea's state Christianity, we might see a bigger presence of Korean Buddhism. Instead of Korean Jesuses everywhere we could see some Korean Buddhas.
Even though an alt-me has little likelihood of ever being born, I wouldn't convert to Theravada Buddhism, its image most likely tainted by pictures of Thai monks driving around in Rolls-Royces after giving blessings to the King on live TV. Zen Buddhism would most likely be even more the default Buddhism here out West by the Pacific. I most likely would lean towards Chinese Chan Buddhism, due to my Sinophilia and all those delicious quotes by Japanese Roshis praising imperialism and violence.
What do y'all think? What neat things could happen with this? Could mindfulness be incorporated into Socialist Psychology? It's been proven incredibly effective in CBT and DBT, but would the materialist establishment buy into an ancient Asian spiritual practice being a key to mental health? Would white academic interest in Buddhism be stunted due to a combination of accusations of Orientalism and an institutional hostility towards religion?
EDIT: I'm going to have to start writing these in Word. Formatting is impossible
For the readers' sake I'll outline the main ways Buddhism has entered American society historically:
Japanese Zen is one of the most widespread and probably the most established form of Buddhism in the United States. With interest sparked by the Transcendentalists, Zen Buddhism found patrons in the United States. D.T. Suzuki being the biggest recipient of this patronage. Suzuki translated many Buddhist works into English and taught Zen in California and Japan, eventually teaching some of the writers who would be known as the Beat Generation. The Beats popularized Zen further with works like Dharma Bums that influenced the Hippies, who have patronized many Zen centers throughout the United States and made Zen a major part of American's image of Japan. Zen is the most popular form of Buddhism in the United States, primarily thanks to Japanese immigrants and their
descendants who practice their traditional religion.
Tibetan Buddhism was very obscure in the United States until the invasion of Tibet by the PRC and the CIA-assisted escape of many monks from Tibet, including the Dalai Lama, head of the Gelug branch of Tibetan Buddhism and head of state of Tibet. The escape of monks from the PRC led to a minor diaspora to the India, where monks like Chögyam Trungpa were awarded scholarships or were otherwise patronized to travel to the United States. They gained popularity in the 1960s-70s and are one of the sects of Buddhism in the United States that are primarily composed of white converts, as opposed to Asian heritage Buddhists who were raised as Buddhists.
Vipassana Meditation & the Burmese tradition that came along with it are another primarily white sect in America. Ba Khin and his student S.N. Goenka taught a meditation-based form of Buddhism that caught on in the US in the 70s thanks to wealthy backers like Ruth Denison and academic elites like Leon Wright. Vipassana meditation, also known as mindfulness, has, with the help of Beat Zen begun the growth of a kind of Secular Buddhism popular among Americans who find religion distasteful but with to engage in spiritual practice. Very trendy right now among educated whites and mental health professionals like Marsha Linehan the creator of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy.
Thai Forest Buddhism is closely related to Burmese Buddhism, with a similar focus on Vipassana, though it has been less secularized in its practice in the United States. Brought to America in the 1970s by two Peace Corps workers by the names of Jack Kornfield and Joseph Goldstein, they wrote several best-selling books and opened several Buddhist centers. Of note is Thannisaro Bhikkhu, an American who moved to Thailand and ordained as a monk in the 70s, then opened the first Theravada Buddhist monastery in the United States in 1993, outside of San Diego. Thannisaro Bhikkhu is also famed for translating thousands of pages of sutras from the liturgical language of Pali into English and publishing them for free online.
Sri Lankan Theravada was popularized in the US by Bhante Gunaratana who in 1968 was invited to Washington DC to teach with other Theravada monastics at the Washington D.C. Buddhist Vihara Society. He then went on to teach graduate-level courses on Buddhism at several prestigious American Universities, furthering Buddhism's reputation in the US among the upper-classes. He has famously written Mindfulness in Plain English, a guide to vipassana meditation. He has also famously ordained the first Theravada nuns in the United States.
There are also near-countless small Buddhist communities that don't have widespread influence in the upper classes and that don't have best-selling books on the charts. Chinese Buddhism, including Chan and Pure Land, have been in the United States since the mid-19th century in great numbers, though generally organized in isolation with each community having its own temple and merely continuing traditional lay practice, without guidance from the monastic community. Cambodian, Laotian, and Vietnamese immigrants have also brought their own Buddhism, though like the Chinese, without many monks and with no monastic continuity. The lack of monasticism in these aforementioned immigrant communities is largely the cause of their isolation and lack of popularity with converts, though Taiwanese immigrants have recently established small monasteries in the US.
As you can see, Buddhism in the United States has been very much formed by WWII and the Cold War. India, Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand having academic contacts with the US are what brought their religion over. Immigrants tend to not be monks unless they've been requested by Cultural Exchange programs. And Americans who converted to Buddhism in Asia tended to be Peace Corp workers or academic researchers. Japanese Zen is the only branch in America established by an immigrant community that has gained widespread popularity among intellectuals and converts among white Americans.
So in a world where an Iron Curtain is lain between not China and the US, but South Asia and the UASR, I predict that Theravada Buddhism will find no purchase in America. However, I predict greater exchange between the Mahayana countries and America. Tibetan and Chinese monks will likely be brought over to teach Buddhism in universities much like Burmese and Thai monks were. Depending on Japan's stance on Zen,(there were many supporters of the Empire among the clergy) there could be even more Zen in the UASR than the United States. Especially with the lack of internment, which destroyed many Japantowns all over California. Perhaps without North Korea's state-worship and South Korea's state Christianity, we might see a bigger presence of Korean Buddhism. Instead of Korean Jesuses everywhere we could see some Korean Buddhas.
Even though an alt-me has little likelihood of ever being born, I wouldn't convert to Theravada Buddhism, its image most likely tainted by pictures of Thai monks driving around in Rolls-Royces after giving blessings to the King on live TV. Zen Buddhism would most likely be even more the default Buddhism here out West by the Pacific. I most likely would lean towards Chinese Chan Buddhism, due to my Sinophilia and all those delicious quotes by Japanese Roshis praising imperialism and violence.
What do y'all think? What neat things could happen with this? Could mindfulness be incorporated into Socialist Psychology? It's been proven incredibly effective in CBT and DBT, but would the materialist establishment buy into an ancient Asian spiritual practice being a key to mental health? Would white academic interest in Buddhism be stunted due to a combination of accusations of Orientalism and an institutional hostility towards religion?
EDIT: I'm going to have to start writing these in Word. Formatting is impossible
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Apparently getting a huge get Japanese-Chinese Zen Buddhism, and Indian schools will be unclaimed because of the Cold War that voobscheto not too happy. East Asian Zen - "Idlers creation allegedly practicing" Dharma ", a distortion, even the most savage rites lower Lamaism." In Indian philosophy more interesting moments.
P.S. - I am at the moment no one does not want to offend, just prefer to speak directly, what I think. Just I want to ask a question - where there are people applying as a philosophical method of dialectical materialism? And it turns out some "half-communists" (and again - no offense). Who is integral worldview.
I'm sorry, Wotan. I don't understand your question. What do you mean by philosophical method of dialectical materialism? And I don't understand your last two sentences at all. I feel like you have a good grasp of English vocabulary, but not grammar or syntax.
You're right - I do not know much English, but I'll try to explain.
There are three component parts of Marxism - dialectical materialism, political economy, the theory of the class struggle. No god of any transmigration of souls in dialectical materialism did not fit. It's not Even materialism! No offense! And here I see that many here in the best Marxist two-thirds. Roughly speaking, my question - "Is there a hundred percent Marxists here?" Once again - no offense! I see this situation a little differently than you.
Oh I understand. I just don't consider Marx's theories to touch on metaphysics at all. I don't think that dialectical materialism states anything on the nature of the mind, nor the existence of souls or the afterlife. Buddhism does not have any God controlling people's fates and Marx does not attempt to build a system of ethics, so I see no conflict between my Marxism and my Buddhism.
EDIT: Of course Marx was personally against religion, but I don't treat every opinion he held as sacrosanct. I am pro-revisionism.
EDIT: Of course Marx was personally against religion, but I don't treat every opinion he held as sacrosanct. I am pro-revisionism.
Directly I have not criticized (by implication, perhaps). Just wanted to know whether there is, among the subscribers "complete" Marxists, as I understand it.
They're made up ideologies from @TheCongressman's New Deal Coalition Retained TL. Communonationalism comines Keynesian economics with social conservatism while Freyism combines anti-fascism with classical liberalism.
You can read about them here.
Bulldoggus
Banned
Which is to say I'm anti-fascist, Keynesian, and socially mostly moderate (although more liberal on some stuff and more conservative on others).