A few weeks ago, I woke up to dozens of emails and messages from my viewers, subscribers, and acquaintances, all expressing their concerns about what is happening in the world right now.
I could feel the fear, hopelessness, doubt, anger, defeat, and sadness in the words I was reading from people all over the world. It was heartbreaking to go through these messages, and to be very transparent with you, it was even more difficult knowing that I cannot help any of these people. But I take comfort in the fact that they felt safe enough to reach out and express what they were feeling.
- Reproductive Rights
- Work From Home
- Global Politics
- Inflation
- Layoffs
- Wages
- Tariffs
This brings me to the point of this newsletter: silence is compliance.
01Silence is not neutrality
It is agreement. It is complicity.
If you do not stand against extremist political ideologies, then you stand against every minority everywhere. If you do not stand for reproductive rights, then you stand against every woman everywhere. If you do not stand against aggressive capitalism, then you stand against equality and equity.
The concept of taking a stand is not difficult, yet we choose to complicate it because we insist on putting ourselves first. Until the moment the issues start to affect us personally.
Maybe you are the type of person to whom the rules do not apply. Maybe because you have a powerful position or title. Maybe because you were born with golden cutlery.
Whatever the case, remember: History has shown us time and again that no matter who you are you are not immune to forces that seek to destroy, oppress, and control.
Today, it’s them. Tomorrow, it’s you.
Our capitalist overlords have decided that working from the office is somehow more productive. This is an absolute lie. COVID proved that not only can we work effectively from home, but that companies can make record profits. After all, billionaires became $3 trillion richer during the pandemic.
How did that happen if working from home is not productive? The reality?
You are being forced back into the office under the guise of productivity and collaboration.
Commercial real estate is taking a hit, and landlords, politicians, and banks are pressuring companies to force people back into office spaces.
Yes, those long commutes, the money spent on transit, the environmental destruction, and the misery of daily office life all come down to one thing.
Greed.
Some people were finally able to start families because remote work allowed them to move to more affordable areas and larger homes. But now, being forced back into the office means they either have to find a new job, a process that can take months or move closer to the city and rent beyond their means just to stay employed.
And if you do not comply with the mandate, you are terminated. And if you speak against the mandate, you are blacklisted and deemed problematic.
Are you going to take a stand against this mandate, or are you going to wait until they push for more?
- Longer work hours
- Six-day work week
- Lower wages
At what point do you say: “I need to take a stand”? In their infinite wisdom, our leaders have decided that a woman’s body is not her own. If she is pregnant, her rights are secondary to the state’s will.
But this was never about protecting life. If it were, orphanages would be empty, no child would go hungry, and education would be a priority. Instead, we have record numbers of abandoned children, families struggling to afford formula, and underfunded schools.
So are we in the business of protecting life, or are we in the business of controlling women?
Today, it’s reproductive rights.
What if tomorrow they mandate that the legal age of marriage is 16? What if tomorrow they mandate marital rape is legal in the eyes of the law?
What if tomorrow they mandate that every woman of childbearing age must produce a child? What if tomorrow they mandate that every woman’s medical records become state property?
At what point do you make a stand?
When they come for your wife? When they come for your sister? When they come for your daughter? When they come for the women in your life?
The world runs on the backs of cheap labor performed by immigrants, people who leave their homes in hopes of building a better life.
Most of them would have been more than happy to stay where they were, but colonialism ensured that their countries never had the opportunity to grow at the same pace as their colonizers.
Now, the current political atmosphere has declared every immigrant a hostile entity.
In Canada, Canadians are enraged at the presence of Indians everywhere. These are the same Indians who work in their coffee shops, their farms, their schools, their banks, their hospitals, and their government.
In America, Americans are enraged at immigrants who built their skylines, raised their children, fed their country, and developed technology that has changed the world.
And yet, according to the leaders and citizens of these fine nations, these “immigrants” have stolen opportunities from the natives. Not the natives who were here first, but the second set that came on boats.
For the first time since World War II, we are seeing the resurgence of concentration camps. Migrants are being ushered into Guantanamo Bay, mass deportations are increasing, and DEI policies are being dismantled.
At what point will you take a stand?
When they come for people with different political beliefs? When they come for people of a certain skin color? When they come for people of a certain ethnicity? When they come for people of a certain religion?
History has shown us what happens when people stay silent. Oppression is not just something that happens overnight. It is built in the gaps where voices should have been.
If you are waiting for the perfect moment to speak up, there isn’t one. If you are waiting for someone else to take the first step, they are waiting for you.
Change does not come from silence. It comes from the relentless refusal to accept injustice as the status quo.
Speak up. Organize. Challenge the narratives built to keep you complacent. Refuse to be silent, because silence is compliance.
