If anybody ever finds a solution to this, every hackerspace in the world would love to know what it is.
Maybe have people have to take a class or two on how to use the equipment before they can join?
That's how Dallas Maker Space does it and seems like a good approach. I did the wood shop orientation and decided not to join because I had to postpone the project I was planning. But I don't know whether that filters out the annoyances mentioned.
One of these days, i guess.
Goa Parties (in my experience anyway) involve Goa Trance music[0] and are sort of their own subculture but it involves people from all walks, e.g. from Burning Man techie decompressionists to German hippies and beyond. Oh, and drugs, though not mandatory.
But I'm no expert so maybe ask an expert if you're interested in this kind of thing. I bet there are also Goa Parties in Goa.
Was it ever like that though? Even in 1960?
I've yet to meet genuine American socialists, even your hard communists sound like Christian Democrats with some odd ideas of race thrown in.
I'd imagine this only applies where atheists are in the minority
(Sources: the bible belt, the bay area, and /r/atheism.)
Plenty of non-christians raised in a Christianity influenced social background, but not raised by Christians, use phrases like that.
With this in mind, things like your point make a lot of sense.
http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/03/13/worldwide-many-see-belie...
But really, not too recently someone thought it was so important they put it on the money and made school children say it every day. I don't think it occurs to most people just how pervasive declarations of religiosity are in America.
Frankly, I've found the overall environments in these sorts of cafes/hackerspaces to be frustratingly anti-social. And I am someone who would be considered fairly left-leaning overall. But good lord were my hopes dashed when it came to thinking I would meet other folks that would be fun to talk to, just because not 100% of my views line up with the accepted SV zeitgeist.
It takes either time or money to see for yourself though.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollow_Earth#Concave_Hollow_Ea...
Back in the W Bush days there were suggestions being thrown around that homeland security types were using 9/11 as an excuse to push their pre-prepared systems of control on people, that Diebold voting machines were rigged to support Republicans.
That's not a conspiracy theory, but a verifiable fact: the systems of control overtly implemented after 9/11 justified by terrorism had largely been proposed (overtly), by many of the same people pushing them after 9/11, with other justifications (often, in the most recent prior attempt, the War on Drugs was the justification.)
There is a related conspiracy theory, though, that 9/11 was engineered (either a false-flag op or simply knowingly allowed to proceed) for the purpose of being used in that way.
The real kicker? It aired in March 2001. That 9/11 conspiracy theory is older than the actual attacks!
These are overwhelmingly right-wing conspiracies.
> Similar sentiments exist for Big Agri/Food, particularly with GMOs.
These run across the board.
As for hoarding money you are misunderstanding how things work. Money hoarded are usually reinvested somewhere else and does not sleep in a vault or something. Even your bank is constantly investing the money you save on the market. Thats how you can finance companies and startups in the end.
Welfare policies have been shown at multiple times to actually harm the poor in the long run, not benefit them. There are entire books written on that topic. Check out Losing Ground: American Social Policy, 1950-1980 from Charles Murray.
There are also entire books written about Bigfoot and the flat Earth theory.
Gates and Zuckerberg have both given large amounts intending to benefit the poor.
There have been tests done which show an inverse correlation between the cost of a person's car and how likely they are to stop for pedestrians waiting at marked crossings. Just as an informal example.
It is also extremely telling that the people who litter the most are young and rich.
Rich people overwhelmingly care a lot less about people they consider to be beneath them.
How can we stop this epidemic before it's too late?