“So let’s walk down Pennsylvania Avenue. I want to thank you all. God bless you and God bless America. Thank you all for being here, this is incredible. Thank you very much. Thank you.”

Those were the final words spoken by US President Donald Trump at the ‘Save America’ rally on January 6, 2021.

Days following the events at the US Capitol, the House voted to impeach Trump. For the second time.

The reason for impeachment? “Incitement of insurrection.”

The charge isn’t surprising given the events leading up to this day — though opinions vary on whether impeachment should or should not have happened. …

The following is an excerpt from my latest article posted to Growing up Alienated. Check out the full article here.

Everyone has an opinion. And when it comes to social justice issues, anything goes. Or rather, anything goes if the white person is on the receiving end of the blame. Condemning the white monolith is so in vogue that you won’t be cancelled or criticized by espousing hate and condemnation of an entire swath of people on the basis of their whiteness. If anything, you will be lauded for helping white people seek penance for their sins. All you have to do is write a scathing piece tearing down all white people. There’s no nuance, no class-based analysis, no acknowledgment of ethnic differences, and so on. Nope. All white people are either doing too much or not doing enough; they’re too vocal or not vocal enough; too guilty, or not guilty enough. …

10 years after conservationist Rachel Carson laid down the foundation for the environmental movement, the concept of ‘sustainability’ started entering the mainstream, first appearing in the 1972 book, Limits to Growth. In the book, the authors looked at a study conducted by a team of MIT researchers who examined the implications of worldwide growth using computer modelling. The researchers found that the global ‘system of nature’ cannot support a growing population, even with the help of advanced technology.

According to the book’s authors, the solution to sustaining a growing population was to impose limits on the way we live our lives, i.e. …

The upside of the pandemic is that it galvanized many people to reflect on their lives and find ways to better themselves: some changed careers, others wrote books, and some people even started businesses.

I didn’t have the same ambitions.

Quite the opposite, amid the pandemic, I found even more ways to waste time. The pandemic fuelled my already-spiralling binge-watching habit — a coping mechanism I’m sure. …

I recently went back to school as I was preparing to make a career change. The vocational school I attended had a career mentorship program — and being in a state of career purgatory, I was eager to enrol and learn (and unlearn) everything I could from an established professional. I hadn’t had a mentor before so I was anxious and excited for what was to come.

Before being matched, I was required to submit a detailed application and undergo a brief interview process to assess the best mentor match. …

At the height of racial and social unrest in the U.S. and around the world, some took to the streets to fight for racial equality, while others, notably digital activists and influencers, came together to promote Black-owned businesses as a way to subvert power through consumption. This trend continued into the holiday season: retailers and activists are now encouraging consumers to purchase gifts with a social justice message, notably an anti-racist message.

Digital Activism More Rampant Among Young Americans

While commodity activism isn’t new, it seems to be more popular than ever, especially among younger people. Cause & Social Influence, a research group focused on young Americans and their involvement in social movements recently released a report on how young Americans (ages 18–30) helped others in 2020. …

Update: I finally got a mailing list in order. If you want to read more of my articles (many of which are not published on Medium), I encourage you to…

“Find your passion!”

“Quit your dead-end job today!”

“Manifest your destiny!”

Do any of these refrains sound familiar to you?

For many of us, growing up we are bombarded with messages to strive for that elusive Dream Job. In high school, we are already thinking about our careers — a big decision to make at such a young age — and one that causes undue stress, no doubt.

There are entire industries built to tell us how to find our dream jobs. We take career tests, meet with career counsellors, read self-help books, conduct informational interviews, plot out our strengths, take personality tests, network at conferences and connect with professionals online, all in a bid to find that oh-so-special job we can claim as our own. While our brains don’t fully develop until we reach our mid-20s, we are nonetheless faced with these big decisions at a young age, and inevitably, this fuels a cycle of inner turmoil that we then carry with us into our adult lives. …