Censorship or Trump?

Trump, censorship, and the balance of democracy, the worst revolution ever, becoming educated, and cell phone addiction

Jan 12, 2021

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Hi friends,

What started off as a harmless Georgia election ended as scenes from a dystopian novel at our nation’s Capitol. Thousands of Trump supporters stormed the compound in an unsuccessful coup. People were killed, the Capitol was demolished, and another scar was left upon this country’s history.

After many years in the making, social media platforms finally decided to remove Trump. While I agree with tech companies and this directive, many argue this impedes upon our freedom of speech. After all, it wasn't Trump causing the physical damage himself, right?

A question that I ask myself to navigate complex decisions is:“If this action were multiplied a million times, would the world be a better place?”

A million Trump tweets? I would fall apart.

However, this also applies to blind censorship. The freedom to create and consume content is a human right that we often take for granted.

Reddit is blocked in China, TikTok is banned in India, and the entire internet is blocked in North Korea.

Censorship requires two sides - a censor and a censored. It is not always 100% clear who is “right” at any given moment, but we can agree that both sides are prone to human temptations.

We are all susceptible to greed, over-consumption, and the overindulgence of power more than we like to believe. Our ego constantly reminds us that it is “never enough”. Regardless of how altruistic we aim to be, we have centuries of programming that encourages us to seek more. And when censorship becomes a spoon for our ego, we become glutton for silence.

Recently in Hong Kong, more pro-democracy leaders have been arrested, and business leaders (including Jack Ma of Alibaba) have been going missing in China. Though the takedown of Trump may be a step toward reducing violence, our freedom of expression sits within a delicate space at this time.

T-8 days until Biden takes office.

I hope things start to improve soon.

What I’m up to

For queer POC: Figma Masterclass Part 2 on Tuesday 1/12

For Asians: Asian American Healing Space 1/17

For queer Asians: Gaysian support group on Sunday, 1/24

I’m hosting my very first mindfulness retreat happening this Saturday for queer Asians. It will be a full-day digital retreat and test-driving a more immersive experience coming out of my monthly support groups. Really excited to see how it goes! More to come on this in a bit.

What are they really after?

Quite a sobering article of the Worst Revolution Ever by The Atlantic:

These men had lived their lives in the ranks of a society where rules were constantly imposed upon them, and—even in the midst of the chaos they were creating—they reflexively followed a few of them. They brought items to the lost and found; they walked between the velvet ropes. They were cowed schoolboys and vicious adolescents at the same time. They were in the Capitol building because important rules had been broken. Which ones, exactly? The super-complicated, talkety-talkety ones enshrined in our beloved Constitution, of course. Unlike members of the lost generation whose minds are being poisoned by the obscenities of “critical race theory,” they had been edified and uplifted by the kind of “patriotic” education Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos were trying to deliver to all American children.

Meanwhile, we have people doing God’s work. Without digital archives, humanity will continue to replay history for eons to come.

The power of education

Recently finished reading Educated by Tara Westover and it was an amazing book showcasing the power of education and how it can change the direction of peoples’ lives. Though the author plays down the family’s wealth and how it may have opened doors for her, the overall story of escaping a cult-like family and grappling with staying true to oneself vs. family ties is a narrative many of us can relate it.