Growing up Alienated | Independent cultural commentary & analysis

Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức's self-immolation during the Buddhist crisis in Vietnam (1963)

May We Live in Fleeting Times

On Earth Day (April 22) 2022, a significant incident occurred interrupting the usual corporate-driven eco-posturing that characterizes this day. Climate activist Wynn Alan Bruce set himself on fire on the steps of the United States Supreme Court. While engulfed in flames, for a brief moment, Bruce sat upright in complete

Photo collage of Canadian figures and symbols

O Canada: A Country Divided

Canada is often overlooked in the international community. Canadians are caricaturized as being neutral, harmless, and even a little dull – a polite, sensible, open-minded people. Compared to other countries, this seems like a favourable public perception to have – and one that even Canadians boast about. But the problem we now

The Rise of Outrage Journalism

The Rise of Outrage Journalism

The state of journalism is grim – and the pandemic has only accelerated its demise. As I write this, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange continues to languish in Belmarsh, a high-security prison in London, where he has been held since 2019. In the latest of the years-long legal battle, Assange’s team

How Intelligence Technologies Are Reshaping Journalism

Elyette Levy Featured

How Intelligence Technologies Are Reshaping Journalism

The constant breakthroughs and advancements in intelligence technologies have seeped into daily life in both unexpected, and increasingly normalized ways

Obama Is Coming For your Guns

Politics Featured

Obama Is Coming For your Guns

Conservatives might just be on the verge of realizing their nightmares

Cannibal Consumerism

Society Featured

Cannibal Consumerism

As a society, we are entering into a new phase, a new era. The arrival of this change has caught all of us off guard. Instead of preparing for the shift, we fight to maintain the status quo or maintain a storied past.

'Dear White People': The Three Words That Divide

Activism Featured

'Dear White People': The Three Words That Divide

Let's set the record straight: 'Dear White People' articles only serve to get clicks and agitate: both of which do not bridge gaps, but instead lead to further division.

The Rise of Consumer Activism

The Rise of Consumer Activism

Commodity activism has seen a re-emergence, thanks to young people today who are reportedly more involved in social causes through consumerism.

In Politicians We Trust

In Politicians We Trust

In 2008, when the news broke of Obama’s presidential win, I was overseas at a bar, in the company of a few Americans. Although I was young, I still vividly remember their visceral reaction to Obama’s win. There was a lot of screaming and crying and incoherent rambling

‘I Love Humanity, It's People I Can't Stand’

‘I Love Humanity, It's People I Can't Stand’

Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s perennial novels are inundated with complex characters — they are often conflicted, multifaceted people who all of us can relate to in different ways. In Crime and Punishment (1866), Dostoyevsky’s character, Raskolnikov, is mentally tortured and morally conflicted. He is simultaneously humble yet arrogant. He is riddled

Animals Need Advocates, Not Apologists

Animals Need Advocates, Not Apologists

No action is ever a personal choice when there is a victim involved — in this case, the victim is the animal.

Hollywood Goes Online

Hollywood Goes Online

With Hollywood in pandemic purgatory, actors have been turning to other mediums to maintain relevance — and what better way to achieve this goal than by invading the digital proletariat.

Black Lives & the Futility of Online Activism

Black Lives & the Futility of Online Activism

> “If we do not know how to meaningfully talk about racism, our actions will move in misleading directions.” - Angela Davis, Freedom is a Constant Struggle [https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/780-freedom-is-a-constant-struggle] > “Networks do not eradicate power: they distribute it in different ways, shuffling hierarchies and producing new mechanisms of

The Ideological Purge

The Ideological Purge

Social consciousness was not elevated, in fact, it seems the pandemic was the tipping point in hurtling humanity towards a new epoch of social unrest. With this unrest, we too, have all but abandoned the climate cause.