But subsequent policies are the choice.

not until you're 18 and can vote. hopefully your parents have sane views towards public policy.

in this case those who the most benefited from fed policies are well over 18yo

Buddhists at least believe this to be controllable.

It's the ultimate victim blaming religion - you're poor because you were a bad person in a previous life.

Very awkward to jokingly say "I wish I were a puppy" when I play with my dog and to see the look of abject horror on my Buddhist partners face. I'm told even wishing for something like that significantly increases my chances of becoming a dog in the next life - which is permanently an undesirable fate.

Huh, have you asked them if saying "I wish I was an enlightened super-being" carries similar fate-affixing virtues? Because if so it seems like a neat short circuit

Actuallu, Buddhists form that though very often as a part of their practice. The basic idea is that an action follows intention, so making this intention explicit helps.

yes, it does. It's essentially like reinforcement, where you keep telling yourself what you want, and learn how to get that. Eventually you work to get that. It all starts with your wish.

> It's the ultimate victim blaming religion - you're poor because you were a bad person in a previous life.

A slight misunderstanding, or an inconsiderate person may use it for victim blaming, but that's not what lays down. It gives guidelines that our actions have consequences, good or bad even if they are not immediately visible to us. On HN, people talk about the role luck plays in the success of startups. Two different people working hard, with brilliant ideas: one of them gets to build a billion $ company, while the other may go bankrupt. What we call luck, or randomness here is explained as karma (good, or bad deeds accumulated from earlier lives). Used with right understanding, and compassion, this provides good guidance for those who seek it.

> It's the ultimate victim blaming religion

As a free person, I can choose my religion and blame God for a change. The difference is that if you place locus of control further to yourself, that gives you (and not an external entity) enormous power. Yes, you might not be able to change what happened, but you can influence what is going to happen, even if it's not immediately obvious and if some links of the casual chain are hidden.

Sounds like a great faith for therians to get into, ngl, if just wishing you were a given species increases the odds of getting to be that species

> It's the ultimate victim blaming religion - you're poor because you were a bad person in a previous life.

You don't think Calvinism is worse? There, you're poor as an indicator that you're destined to go to Hell.

My admittedly limited understanding of Karmic reincarnation is that it's still not viewed as a terribly controllable thing

If you have positive karma in this life you will be rewarded in the next but the manner of the reward is more or less beyond your control

And that's assuming you believe in that sort of thing to begin with