I started blogging because I no longer use social media and I wanted to create a space to share my thoughts and opinions to the world. I hope my blogs can reach other people, but my goal is to speak my mind openly, as a scholar. I intend my blogs to be more philosophical than anything else, so it's all good if you disagree with me.
We often think of civil war as a violent split—one faction of society breaking away from another. But I’d argue that civil war can take a quieter, more internal form. The current federal government of the United States, under the leadership of Donald J. Trump, has taken actions that resemble a war on its own institutions. Key democratic pillars—such as the Department of Justice, the judiciary, and the rule of law—have been undermined through politicized appointments, public attacks on judges and prosecutors, and refusal to comply with oversight mechanisms. These aren’t isolated incidents. They are part of a pattern that echoes authoritarian shifts seen in places like Hungary under Viktor Orbán, Turkey under Erdoğan, and Israel under Netanyahu’s successful judicial overhaul campaign. These actions threaten to slow innovation, weaken economic growth, limit public services, and degrade overall quality of life for lower class people. This quality was already under pressure due to widespread corruption and a lack of regulatory safeguards for ordinary US citizens. We are not witnessing the usual partisan struggle—we are witnessing the erosion of the democratic contract itself.
What strikes me most is how little attention this erosion receives in everyday conversation. Understandably, many people are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information and disinformation they encounter. But that makes it even more important to pause and ask: How are our opinions being shaped? Who benefits from this confusion? Propaganda has never been more powerful or omnipresent. Social media platforms and news channels—often owned by the same billionaires funding political campaigns—create echo chambers that reinforce simplified, emotionally charged narratives. The shift toward authoritarianism isn’t just a foreign phenomenon; it’s a growing domestic threat. The United States is gradually becoming a place where executive power goes unchecked. Some might say we’re on the path to becoming a “one-man show,” like Venezuela or Cuba. To be clear, I don’t think Donald Trump will be the final authoritarian figure—his age and volatility make him unlikely to last—but he’s already shown how vulnerable our democratic systems are. Whoever comes next could inherit the same tools and use them more effectively.
If you voted for Donald Trump and still support him after recent developments, I invite you to critically examine the broader context—not just his policies, but the long-term damage being done to democratic norms. If you voted for Kamala Harris and believe she would have done better, I agree in many respects. Either way we all must acknowledge that both major parties have contributed to the centralization of executive power. This isn’t just about one person; it’s about systemic trends, that are highly worrisome. The truth is that we’ve been living under oligarchic influence for decades. Campaign financing structures make it nearly impossible for candidates to succeed without backing from the wealthy elite. The bourgeoisie—owners of capital, media, and tech—now wield unprecedented control over the channels of public discourse. This makes social engineering easier than ever before. Whether through targeted advertising, algorithmic bias, or curated news feeds, our opinions are being shaped without our consent. We are participants in a mass social experiment in psychological manipulation.
The future will likely get worse. The richest man in the world (and real life super villian!) is investing billions in neurotechnology designed to interface directly with human brains. Elon Musk’s Neuralink, for example, is billed as a medical tool—but its long-term potential raises serious ethical questions. Given Musk’s history—like altering platform algorithms to promote his own posts on X (formerly Twitter)—it’s not hard to imagine a future where he pushes to have cognitive influence over other people directly through neuralink.
There are fake people everywhere. When you scroll through social media, most feeds you see are highlights of people's life. Some people can make a beautiful post on their social media while simultaneously saying terrible things to the people closest to them like their close family or friends. This dissonance of realities can be really stark. I have a few close examples of this in my life and I find it difficult to understand. I know that people have a strong desire to be accepted by other people but why not focus on the people physically next to you as opposed to focusing so much on upholding a virtual appearance, where most of those people may not really care about you. I had a student last semester that had a very disrespectful attitude towards me and her fellow classmates but would take pictures posing in class, presumably to post on social media. I would think to myself, what is the point of upholding some virtual appearance when the people around you, due to being disrespectful, think poorly of you because of that. It makes no sense to me that people place more value on their virtual identity than how people physically and in real time, perceive them. As a father, I hope to teach this to my daughter, I hope that she can value in-person relationships and physical interactions over upholding a fake virtual identity.
I can't believe it's almost been a year since I became a father! There have been ups and downs throughout but the experience has been overwhelmingly positive. My daughter is just at the age where she can stand on her own and enjoy simple things like going to the park and social events with friends, family, and our community. I can already see her personality coming out little by little and she is, and hopefully will continue to be, a wonderful person. My first identity is now being a father, and being a scientist has shifted into my second identity. I am thankful to be a university professor since it does give me more flexibility to work from home and at least be around for parts of the day, plus I get four months off teaching, giving me more time to be with my daughter.
A Dear Friend: One of my best friends has been battling cancer for over two and a half years. This friend is especially dear to me since we share a special chemistry that few people experience in their lifetime. He is an incredible person and one of the most amazing human beings I’ve ever met. He lives in the UK, which is a 10-hour flight from LA. I was lucky enough to visit him this summer and spend a couple of weeks with him and his lovely wife, who is also very dear to me. We had an incredible time full of laughter, long walks, and great conversations. Before the trip, I told myself to make the most of it and save the tears for later. Sure enough, on the bus after saying our goodbyes, I couldn’t help but cry most of the way to the airport. Thanks to technology, we stay in constant contact, and I hope he can win the battle against cancer so we can create more memories together.
Life’s Suffering: When I went to Asia in 2018, I learned a great deal about Buddhism. At its heart, it is a philosophy of life that also manifests as a religion. The Buddha said that life is suffering because we are attached to people and things. One of the goals of Buddhism is to love without attachment, which is complex for us humans to conceive of and even harder to practice. It is hard for me to imagine reaching this capability. Life is suffering, and I feel that a lot these days, not just because of my friend’s condition but also because I may have to separate from other loved ones who cause me suffering. Ironically, separating from them would also cause me suffering. These choices, where either way you suffer, are everywhere in life, making it hard to know what is correct. I also think about people I’ve already separated from, willingly and unwillingly, and wonder what life would be like with them still in it.
Writing these blogs helps me sort out my thoughts. This blog, in particular, is emotional for me, but putting it into writing helps me feel better. Thanks for reading :)
For a long time, I have suspected that there is something false about life. I remember watching the movie The Truman Show as a kid, and for a little while, I thought my life was a show, that I was being observed and monitored somehow, in a way that goes beyond my ability to detect. Since learning about simulation theory, it has slowly crept into my philosophical views of life, shifting my epistemology, ontology, and even my axiology. This has led me to some mixed thoughts that seem to contradict each other:
The nature of reality doesn't matter. Simulation or not, we may all be cogs in a wheel with little to no free will, as human behavior is dictated by evolutionary biology, genetics, the expression of those genetics, environment, nurture, social forces, and other factors that lead to our actions. Our ideas of what reality is or isn't have no effect on the reality we are limited to perceive.
A simulation would make theology true and atheism false since the creators of our simulation, by definition, would be our God (or Gods). This is in line with ideas of the afterlife, where death is how we leave the earth, the "fake reality" that impacts our afterlife, to then connect with our deities or "true reality." I admit it is easier to accept simulation theory since I grew up Christian (which I no longer consider myself). The similarities between waking up from a simulation with dying and having an afterlife are clear to me and logically congruent ideas.
Then there is the question of what is real and whether we are all in a simulation together, kind of like The Matrix, where everyone is plugged in. Or am I the only "real" entity in the simulation, whatever "real" means, of course, since I would not be technically, which is in line with Descartes' "I think, therefore I am."
Simulation theory has also led me to see death as the necessary escape from life. Life is suffering, and only by ending life can someone reach true peace, which in my opinion is returning to nothingness, as we were before birth. Believing in a simulation makes the concept of death easier to manage.
I cannot say for certain whether we live in a simulation or not. I also have no quarrel with religion or with people who believe in dogmatic ideologies. This post just summarizes a bit of where I am today, but my journey for discovering my own truth is far from over. It won't end until my simulation comes to an end (hehe!). Until then, I hope to meet many more cool people to discuss these ideas with since we all should contribute to the social construction of our civilization's knowledge.
I am a new father as of December 7 to a wonderful baby girl. I have felt a profound love for her while my wife and I were expecting, but now I am head over heels for her. I wish nothing more than to give her the best life possible, which includes making hard decisions to benefit her. Her birth has triggered a huge shift in my mindset, and I want to provide her with all the opportunities possible. I am so thankful to have her in my life, and I am ready to do anything to ensure she has the best upbringing possible. I hope she serves as a unifying force for my wife and me so that we can provide her with an environment where her parents love and respect each other. I hope to mature as a man and human being, recognizing my faults and weaknesses, and become a better example for my daughter to follow.
I wish that all human beings were more caring of other people independent of ethnicity, culture, or beliefs. I am firmly against the apartheid system that Israel has carried out against the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the obliteration of Gaza. The genocide of innocent women and children that Israel (and indirectly the USA) is carrying out for the whole world to see will be remembered as one of the most cruel acts of violence from one group of people to another in the history of mankind. I would never blame Jewish people for the atrocities committed by the unpopular government of Israel and their horrible leader, Benjamin Netanyahu. There are many Jewish people who are praying for a ceasefire, but the person calling the shots, netanyahu, wants to eradicate all Palestinian people. He is a truly evil man akin to adolf hitler, in my opinion. He is a world leader none of the US presidents have gotten along with, with both Trump and Obama despising the man. The part that makes me feel particularly guilty is that the majority of weapons Israel is using to conduct this genocide come from the US, so we Americans are partially responsible for these heinous actions. The US should support a ceasefire and push towards a two-state solution. Israel should abandon the apartheid state it currently has, where the discrimination of Palestinian people is part of the law and part of the military's official duty is to routinely terrorize innocent civilians. The Palestinian people should be able to govern themselves through democratic processes.
When is it morally just to cut innocent people off basic needs like water and food? How can you justify bombing hospitals and killing innocent medical doctors trying to save lives? You can't, unless you are heartless, or see yourself as superior to the people that are suffering. All Lives Matter, not just people that share social identities with us. We need to have empathy for those in different social groups. No one should accept or tolerate the concept of genocide, no matter the groups involved, especially when it is being conducted with US weapons and aid. I would rather see our weapons defend freedom and democracy (Taiwan and Ukraine) and not kill mass amounts of innocent people in Gaza. Our tax money should go to boosting economic development or building much-needed infrastructure in the US or to dig us out of the dangerous GDP to debt ratio we have today. In the end, we all need to see things for what they are, and overcome our own innate hatred for people different from ourselves. Instead, we should all love those who have different values and perspectives in life and wish them the best possible life circumstances because, at the end of the day, we are all only human beings trying to pursue a happy and healthy life.
There is building scientific evidence that suggests we are all born with morality, and it is a core innate attribute we all have. A study shows that infants as young as 3 months have the ability to make moral decisions, which may come as a great surprise, as traditional theories have always argued that morality is learned as opposed to innate. There are two main outcomes I think are most interesting when it comes to this topic, and then I will discuss their vast ramifications. The first outcome shows that infants generally prefer to see people being helped rather than not being helped, regardless of the social group. The second outcome narrows down the scope to whom infants prefer to be helped or not helped, and it turns out that infants prefer those they can't relate to not get helped. It is hard for me to explain these studies as I am not a psychologist, but the implications are that humans naturally, without considering nurture (good parenting), prefer that those who they can't relate to get less assistance.
These findings may explain why humans can be so evil towards those not in their social groups while being "good" to those they consider part of their social group. The term social group is general but can refer to race, gender, ethnicity, or any other shared identity, like a love for a specific sport or specific food. Many people simply don't have good parents to show them how to be good to other people that don't belong to their social groups, and thus we have a world full of bullies and autocrats. The studies on infants line up with Social Identity Theory perfectly, which I feel further validates both theories. This fundamental desire to see bad things happen to people outside of the social identity groups that babies have, plus the limited biases and beliefs passed on by their parents, means this is a conserved and cyclical process. For these reasons, I have little hope for a future without violence, racism, sexism, homophobia, slavery, or any other form of human submission or intimidation.
I got the privilege of going to the Hollywood Bowl in LA to see a concert by the LA Philharmonic called Mozart Under the Stars. The concert was great, and I felt a kind of peace that I needed at the moment. Today, as I was scrolling YouTube, a video about Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, appeared, calling him the Black Mozart. I ended up watching a few videos on Joseph Bologne, and I learned that he had a significant impact on our history while sadly being someone most people have never heard of. I won’t go into his biography since you can watch the video or look him up, but I’ll say a few things. Joseph was the son of a wealthy white man and a black enslaved woman, making him a mixed-race man. He was one of the greatest people of his generation and was acknowledged for his talent during his lifetime, despite facing a huge amount of racism. He was one of the greatest musicians and swordsmen of his time, a leader in the French Revolution, and influenced the minds of many autocrats, as he was born wealthy. He challenged great swordsmen in France and England, winning many duels against white fencing masters, which shifted local public opinions of white superiority.
Learning about Joseph made me remember how there is so much rich history of great people of color that is simply not taught in school. I wish that the achievements of people of color were taught more and not omitted from our public education as they were when I went to school. Anyways, do you have a favorite historical figure of color? I can say that Joseph Bologne has become one of my favorite historic figures.
One of my favorite Nas rap songs is "Life is What You Make It." Everything that I have been able to accomplish is because of (at least) two reasons: 1) I've had a burning desire to learn science and be a scientist since I was a child, and 2) I have been lucky to have the support of my parents along with great teachers and mentors that have guided me. I want to focus on the first point in this blog. Albert Einstein said that imagination is more important than knowledge because you have to first imagine where you want to go in order to be able to work towards that direction. If you can't imagine where you want to go, then you will probably end up having a job you find miserable. I recognize that I was lucky to be able to imagine myself being a scientist at a young age, whereas other people spend much more of their lives trying to figure it out.
So how do you figure out what you want to do in life? There is no real answer to this, since everyone is different. If you really have no idea, I would suggest taking a personality test like the Briggs Myers Test to help narrow it down. You can also ask yourself, "What could I imagine myself doing for several decades?" You can also think of a professional person who has impacted your life in some way. Again, these are hard questions to ask yourself, but the goal is to try to find something you can happily imagine yourself doing. I would also suggest you consider the Japanese concept "Ikigai," which refers to the reason for being, or the purpose of life. It is a combination of two words: “iki” meaning “life” and “gai” meaning “value” or “worth.” The concept of ikigai is about finding the intersection between what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for. It is believed that finding your ikigai can lead to a fulfilling and happy life.
OpenAI's ChatGPT has blown me away since I first used it back in December 2022. I was using it to plan a trip to Africa and Europe, and it handled itself incredibly well, giving me a lot of valuable information. Then I used it to see if it could handle one of the assignments I had given my class, and again, it was able to generate a well-written and articulated response to my assignment. Today, as I was working on a document I needed to finish for work, I really didn't even know where to start. I was just about to go ask one of my colleagues about how to do it, and then a thought hit my mind, why not ask ChatGPT? I asked ChatGPT what I needed to write, and miraculously, it wrote exactly what I needed and much better than I could have. This moment has been the singular most fascinating interaction I've had with AI since it was able to accomplish two things simultaneously: 1) It did some of my work for me, and 2) I learned from its response after not knowing where to begin. This technology is changing the world, and another revolution of technology is already here. I will never forget this moment!
When I discovered Wing Chun, I fell in love with the scientific approach it took to self-defense. I began my training in June 2011 and had the privilege of having private lessons from Sifu Mike Robinson up until going to graduate school in August 2013. While in grad school, I was able to train several students in Wing Chun, and I would see Sifu Mike when I'd visit the family a couple of times a year. Sadly, Sifu Mike passed away in September 2015, and I was heartbroken. Sifu was one of my best friends (and his family later told me I was one of his), and he passed away at the young age of 61. I continued to train until about 2017 and then had a long break of not even doing my sets or advertising my lessons. When I initially got into Wing Chun, I fell in love with it and wished to pursue it for the rest of my life. I decided that starting today (2/4/23), I will get back into training again. I found Wing Chun "cousins" in Southern California and am preparing to meet them eventually. Either way, I plan to keep up more with my sets and maybe look for a student or two. I also need to finish my book on the Physics of Wing Chun!
As a social constructivist, I believe that most knowledge is socially constructed. However, I have concluded that there are three forms of knowledge: 1) Empirical Knowledge, 2) Social Knowledge, and 3) Self-actualized Knowledge. Below I will briefly summarize them:
Empirical knowledge consists of thoughts (or symbols) based on experiments or observations of nature that can describe and predict some phenomena. In principle, this type of knowledge should be generally accepted by all people, due to the clear-cut evidence needed to support any claims based on empirical knowledge. However, many people reject empirical knowledge due to having other beliefs (self-actualized knowledge) that they feel are more “true” to them, even if there is no empirical evidence for them. By definition, we are all ignorant until knowing the truth, so for many people, a lack of empirical knowledge comes from a lack of interest in science or understanding the true nature of our universe.
Social knowledge consists of thoughts (and symbols) that are created and propagated socially. The history of this knowledge goes back to the beginning of humanity. Some of this knowledge can be backed by evidence, but most of this knowledge is relative and depends on social factors. Religion, culture, language, laws, and social norms are all examples of social knowledge. It can be argued that even the concept of morality is socially constructed. Social knowledge prevails in every aspect of our lives and is completely shaped by our social experience and how society functions.
Self-actualized knowledge consists of how each individual human being interprets and experiences empirical and social knowledge. This kind of knowledge consists of self-actualized truths that are influenced by empirical and social knowledge but are often formed from the understanding and perceptions that an individual forms as they live their lives. This knowledge helps reinforce social and empirical knowledge. Self-actualized knowledge is where individual perceptions are formed, acting as a filter of what an individual is likely to accept or believe. When individuals or groups of people falsely interpret or recall empirical knowledge due to some form of ignorance or bias, those ideas cause ripples through society in the form of misinformation. Once ideas are constructed as self-actualized knowledge, they can only be deconstructed by purposeful intentions from the individual. Due to these reasons, self-actualized knowledge may be the most individualized and radical but is only constrained to the individual as opposed to society.
While I have concluded that there are fundamentally three kinds of knowledge, they are not mutually exclusive to one another. For example, many customs and traditions we celebrate today come from astronomical human observations tens of thousands of years ago. Features of the three kinds of knowledge are apparent in this example since an observation led to a tradition which led to people believing in those traditions. The evolution of humanity and our knowledge is amazing. We have constructed a vast understanding of the universe, and yet we know very little overall.
The recent events going on all over the world may have deep consequences for all of us. Ukraine and russia are in a war that is already putting a large strain on food and energy prices globally. Topping this off, we are currently set to have some of the lowest crop yields in 2023 due to the need for valuable fertilizers necessary for food production. At the time of this writing, the stock market is taking a huge hit, and the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 0.75%, with further rises expected ahead. Like in everything, the economic turmoil is relative and may pose an opportunity for people like my wife and me who are still moving up the economic ladder and have little investments. For others, this recession (if not depression) will negatively impact their lives directly with the increase in unemployment and the hit to retirement accounts.
Worse than the hit to the economy is the increased threat to democracy as people become desperate for changing conditions. Will Putin's war against Ukraine lead to further escalations in other parts of the world? Either russia against other European countries or China finally invading Taiwan. These events would drive the world into further recession and, worse off, a potential world war between the strongest countries in the world. I really hope things settle down again, both economically and geopolitically, but things have been heading in this direction for a very long time.
I am writing this blog because of the past week's events when russia began to invade Ukraine. I've never been to Ukraine, and by the looks of it now, I will never get to see it in the way it was before russia destroyed it. I find it so difficult to believe that human beings still wage wars with one another, causing irreversible death and destruction. Vladimir Putin is a ruthless imperialist DICKtator, and I hope his actions lead to his demise. I hope that Ukraine can survive the russian invasion and protect their democratic liberties. I am also worried about Taiwan, which will likely be invaded by China soon, spurring further chaos and disorder across the world. I really hope these escalations don't lead to another world war, but only time will tell. What is certain is that we are living at a breaking point in history, and the world may become more dangerous than ever.
The only upside to this conflict, up to the time of writing this blog, is how the world has responded so far. Many people have protested across the world, and many powerful nations are giving military weapons and technology to Ukraine so that they can defend themselves. I've also seen unity among party lines as to how the US should respond, potentially bringing people together politically for the first time since September 11, 2001. Hopefully, russia remains isolated in its attempt to obtain its geopolitical objectives and fails to do so, while strengthening the collaboration between democratic countries. Hopefully, the least number of people will die so that humanity can live in better harmony.
PS: I purposely wrote russia with a lowercase letter because I think Putin is a heartless man, and until they can oust him, russia will continue to be a threat to peace and stability around the world.
This blog is about my reflections on the history of immigration in the US and my own situation of trying to bring my wife to the US. The history of immigration to the US goes far beyond the Eurocentric history often taught in schools. Immigration policies acted as filters for who would be allowed to enter the country, allowing pathways for white Christians from Europe and blocking entry for the rest. It wasn't until 1952 that non-White immigrants were finally legally allowed to enter the country, and immigration policies began to shift. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 was a landmark bill that eliminated the racial quota, replacing it with a category system that favors people who have relatives in the US and specialized professional skills. Since 1965, the number of immigrants from non-European countries skyrocketed, and they now make up most of the immigrant population. Immigration policies still have a long way to go until they are more equitable, and I am living through the ugly side of the immigration process at the time of this writing.
It is incredibly hard to migrate to the US today, and I'm living it now since I'm still waiting for my fiancée's visa after two years. What's most frustrating is that the government doesn't even provide accurate information on the process. The mechanisms of how and when visas get approved are invisible to the public. The hard reality is that immigrants get treated like second-class citizens along the way. My fiancée had her interview in early December, and the officer told her it would take 10 days for the visa to get to her. I had been living in Mexico while waiting for the visa and decided to leave Mexico in order to find a place to live in the US. I did that, found a great apartment and everything, but unfortunately, I needed to come back to Mexico because it's been almost 2 months, and we still don't know anything about the visa. This has been a really eye-opening experience for me, and I think that major immigration reform in the US is needed. As a nation of immigrants, we need to have a system that is more fair and humane, that considers the lives of the people waiting and how their lives are directly impacted by them.
Living abroad has really improved my perspective on life, mostly because the limits of culture are plain to see. Culture shock was not new to me, even before traveling abroad, because I had experienced culture shock as a teenager within the US. I spent most of my childhood living in a very diverse part of the US, where most of the people in my neighborhood were people of color. Then I moved from a neighborhood full of people of color into a neighborhood full of white people, which was a huge culture shock for me. I remember trying to make friends with my white neighbors, and most of them ended up bullying me (presumably due to being the only non-white person present). Luckily, my high school was somewhat diverse, so I found nicer white people and other people of color to befriend later on.
Getting back to the point, my time traveling has really allowed me to see the limits of my own form of being and how dependent that is on the culture one belongs to. We are all mentally enslaved to the culture the people around us follow, and until we escape those social bubbles and have meaningful interactions with people that have different cultures, we will remain blind to the evident truth that culture is socially constructed. What you believe to be right and wrong depends on a system that was built by the ancestors of your culture. In the US, you don't have to travel to another country either; just go somewhere with a different demographic of people than what you are accustomed to, and really try to get to know the people.
These concepts seem so simple, but they are very complex, so I will provide some personal examples from my own experiences: (Experience 1) My first trip abroad was to London. I started there because one of my best friends lives there, and the English are like brothers to Americans, at least geopolitically speaking, so it felt like a natural first country to visit abroad. While in London, one of the first things I noticed was that the cops didn't carry guns, which, coming from the US, was something I'd never seen. In the US, cops always carry guns, and the idea of people carrying guns, in general, is engraved into our laws and culture. It simply wasn't like this in London, which I thought was fantastic. Sadly, I fear cops in the US much more than cops abroad, and this includes Mexican cops, which I have had encounters with. (Experience 2) Another example is when I went to Eastern Asia and visited many beautiful religious places. In one temple in Hong Kong, I remember seeing a man buy almost $300 worth of incense to simply burn for good luck, which baffled me, but then it hit me that religion makes people believe superstitions that are not based on reality. In general, I also noticed that people are very religious all over the world and that the religion you grew up believing is part of the fabric of the culture you come from. In other words, if my parents had been Muslim, I may have been an ex-Muslim instead of an ex-Christian.
Living in Mexico for two years has given me a broader global perspective on the inequity between richer and poorer countries. Living here has taught me the true worth of the dollar since my middle-class income in the US makes me upper class in Mexico and in many other socioeconomically similar countries. The real global value of the dollar is often hidden from most Americans since many don't travel abroad or follow international news.
I can see the inequity between richer and poorer countries and how COVID is exacerbating the inequity right before my eyes. Due to COVID, the economy in Mexico is currently suffering, and the government is having a difficult time vaccinating its population. At the same time, in the US, the pandemic is somewhat under control, many restrictions have been lifted, and people have started to return to their normal lives. The story of the US is the same for many other wealthy countries that have the potential to immunize their populations rapidly. Unfortunately, in Mexico and other poorer countries, the government doesn't have the same resources, so they are having very little success in vaccinating their populations. I believe this will continue to drive further inequity, and poorer countries will continue to suffer many casualties and face further economic declines. If COVID mutates fast enough where booster shots will be necessary going forward, then the vaccination efforts of poorer countries will be in vain, again causing further inequity in the world.
I'll be honest, I never cared the least bit about politics before my first international trip to Europe in 2017. In Europe, I found that people speak a lot about politics, which was the topic of many of my discussions with strangers. After having so many interesting conversations about US politics with Europeans, I came to realize just how important politics really is and how little I knew about it. After returning to the US from Europe, I immersed myself in several political classics like Plato's The Republic and Marx's Communist Manifesto, along with following different channels that talk about politics, geopolitics, economy, and history on YouTube. I really wanted to gain some insight into why different countries have different systems, the history behind them, and how they got there. As a result, geopolitics has become one of my favorite subjects to study.
I think that everyone should be more informed about domestic and international politics because the world is a much smaller place than most people think. It doesn't matter your political affiliation; people need to know more about political systems and how their governing systems are different from other countries. Every country has a different demographic, geography, history, and culture, which in turn, has led to their political development. All these variables limit how those systems may be transferred over. A country cannot simply copy policies that work in another country to solve their own problems. What should occur, however, is that we compare our own political systems to others so that we may think critically about how our own systems can be improved to benefit our society domestically and abroad.
Ignorance is bliss, which is why many people prefer to stay ignorant. Politics is a dangerous thing to be ignorant about, however, because it directly impacts us all, every moment of every day. The centrist and nationalist emphasis of the media, and focus on local or national events, means most of the population is not made aware of breaking news from other countries. This limits what people perceive to be important. The reality is that what happens in Asia or Africa DOES have an impact on us.
In my opinion, the best advice for getting interested in politics is to travel and talk to people around the world. Having discussions with people from other countries is essential for reflecting on domestic politics. Traveling also builds compassion for other types of people and customs, which is also necessary to have a global perspective. We are like the microorganisms of this planet; our individual impact is small, but as a collective, we can transform the earth, for better or worse.
I grew up in a religious household, and most of my family actively practices Christianity. I respect all religions and believe that people have the right to believe what they want. However, I am no longer religious because I have concluded that religion, as well as most human forms of knowledge, are socially constructed over hundreds of thousands of years. This social construction includes every language, custom, and social norm that exists. Additionally, from my travels, I realized that religion has a geopolitical purpose and has historically been used by world leaders to unite and maintain control over their populations. Moreover, I believe religious ideologies are fundamentally sexist, since in many world religions, women do not have the right to lead and must obey some form of submission to men. Religion also upholds racist ideologies in many ways. Also, have you seen a black angel in Christian or Catholic art? I know I haven't. Without racism, how do you explain the whitewashing of Jesus Christ, who was a colored Middle Eastern man?
Nowadays, religion seems to be fading away in developed countries, although it continues to thrive in developing countries, which make up most of the world. I hypothesize that the use of advanced technology, specifically the internet and media, is sufficient for governments to monitor and control their citizens, taking away the geopolitical purpose of religion. As technology becomes more advanced and merges further with the human being, I predict that religiosity will eventually be replaced by a deep interdependence on technology for everything. In some ways, I fear technology more than religion, but I hope the solution lies in pushing towards a future with more transparency. I predict that as more nations advance technologically (and hopefully become more democratic), religiosity will continue to decrease. Again, I'm not against religion; this is just my opinion.