By the time this post is published, I would have been “unplugged” for a little over a month. This means all of my social media apps, which include Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok, and more, have been deleted and inaccessible.

Initially, I did this because I had seen one of my close friends do it, and I thought it sounded nice to be away from social media to have less screen time. What I didn’t know, however, was the psychological benefits that came with it.

I’m talking about delayed gratification. Everyone probably knows about delayed gratification and the “marshmallow test.” But, if you’re hearing this for the first time, I will briefly explain it.

Kids were sat in front of a single marshmallow and were told that if they waited for 15 minutes, they would receive another treat. It was later found that “the longer kids were able to hold off on eating a marshmallow, the more likely they were to have higher SAT scores and fewer behavioral problems,” (Resnick 2018).

What does this have to do with social media?

The opposite, or failure, of the “marshmallow test” displays instant gratification. Instant gratification is what’s seen in social media. I specifically want to point out Tik Tok, for I think this app displays the most instant gratification of all apps.

Tik Tok is an app that allows the user to view short videos, 1–60s, with the swipe of a finger. These videos are tailored to them from an algorithm that takes view history, likes, etc., and puts similar videos onto a “For You” page. When someone is swiping through Tik Tok, and within 5 seconds of a video they are not interested, they swipe away. Sometimes, and I know a lot of people do, they swipe within 1 second. This is a display of instant gratification. That “instant” the video starts, the viewer wants to see something interesting, or be hooked into. It’s rare that viewers watch through a video if there isn’t something to catch their eye.

Deleting Tik Tok has made the most significance in my “social media hiatus.” During study sessions, it’s especially bad to go from an app like Tik Tok and then back to studying. This is because when you’re on Tik Tok, your mind is put into instant gratification mode. When you leave the app and go work on something like studying or exercising, your mind is still in instant gratification mode.

It is important to say, however, that withdrawing oneself from instant gratification does not mean complete success. The same “marshmallow test” was conducted decades later, with a more diverse group of kids, and it was found that delayed gratification “is not a unique lever to pull to positively influence other aspects of a person’s life. It’s a consequence of bigger-picture, harder-to-change components of a person, like their intelligence and environment they live in,” (Resnick 2018).

Still, I think it’s important to keep in mind one’s routine with social media. These “marshmallow tests” are on children, and I bet now all adults could resist a marshmallow for 15 minutes. The gist of this story is: try not to spend too much time on social media. It can distract you from long-term goals.

WORKS CITED:

Resnick, Brian. “The ‘Marshmallow Test’ Said Patience Was a Key to Success. A New Replication Tells Us S’more.” Vox, Vox, 6 June 2018, www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/6/6/17413000/marshmallow-test-replication-mischel-psychology.

Deleting TikTok was originally published in Writing 150 Fall 2020 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Before I get started, you may be thinking, “Is this guy really about to thank what is arguably the most toxic and unsportsmanlike video game in the history of video games?” And to that, I say:

“Exactly,”

*cue title screen*

Dear League of Legends,

I remember 7 years ago, I was walking in the hallway with a friend of mine and we were talking about you. We had only just begun playing, and we talked about some of your champions, Ashe and Blitzcrank. Our conversation was heard by a kid walking in front of us, and he quickly recognized what we were talking about. Who would have thought he would come to be one of my closest friends for the next 7 years. Time after time, you had me meeting with people I would never have talked to. You were our mutual friend. Even now, you continue to help make friends. You will forever hold a special place in my heart, even if I hate playing you and want to uninstall. Thank you. You are responsible for bringing together literally all of my closest friends and relationships.

Sincerely,

Justin

Okay enough of that

Though it is all true, League of Legends is a very special artifact in my life.

In week 6 of my writing class, my peers and I were tasked to list important things that have impacted our life. The things can be big or small, tangible or intangible. But for me, the first thing I put down was League of Legends. Very quickly, I registered that League of Legends was a monumental influence in my life. The next task was to randomly choose one of the artifacts listed and write a thank you letter to it. As heard in the introduction, I did not randomly choose. I really wanted to talk about League of Legends.

In this video, I would like to speak upon my relationship with League of legends, or commonly known as “League.”

Firstly, my origin. My first interaction with League was way back in 2012. I was in 4th grade at the time, and I discovered this game from my older brother. I distinctly remember playing Skarner and Nocturne at the time. However, my 10-year-old puny brain could not register what was going on. I quickly lost interest and went back to Minecraft and Pokemon. Just only a year and a half later, as I transitioned into middle school, I began playing again, this time, however, I convinced my Minecraft friend to play with me. And just like that, in League’s 3rd season, I fell in love with the game.

As mentioned in the thank you, League is responsible for making a vast majority of my friends. Here’s a quick rundown:

My first friend that I connected with through League was Leo. Leo was the kid who overheard the conversation in the hallway. He introduced me to another person who played, Jaelon. Jaelon then introduced us to his elementary school friends, who also played league, but went to a different middle school. These friends made friends with other people who played league, and then they were introduced into the group, and then so on and so forth. Isn’t it crazy how a video game had 6th graders, actual 11-year-olds, meeting each other over different schools? This extent even applies to one of my closest friends who moved entire school districts, Khanh. Khanh’s story goes like this: it was a new school, and as a 7th grader, being awkwardly transferred halfway through middle school, he found it hard to make friends. However, one magical day, another 7th grader comes up to him and says “you look like Lustboy”. Lustboy was, at the time, a professional league of legends player for a team called TSM. Just shortly after this interaction, Khanh introduces him to the friend group.

League’s influence in establishing friendships extends beyond what’s expected. Going as far as connecting people from different school districts. Even today, League continues to define my friend groups, as I am closest with the people I often play games with. Through league, I am able to frequently establish strong friendships and connect with people I would never think possible.

The third aspect within my relationship with League would be my drive to improve. Going back to Leo, at the time, he was freakishly good at the game, being an astonishing Silver 1 rank in just 6th grade. Literally, everyone else at the time was bronze. I became his duo partner, and we played from 10 am to 10 pm almost every day. I was inspired to improve my rank, in hopes of one day being as good as him. We climbed the ladder together, and in 7th grade, I improved to Gold, and him, Platinum. Back in middle school, being Gold, and especially Platinum, was unheard of. Very early on, I had grown the competitive drive to improve.

This drive is seen today, where I continue to seek ways I can improve my gameplay. Though there is not much to improve on nowadays, for I am what some would consider, the GOAT of League of Legends, I have some- just a few- moments of underperforming.

Finally, the final aspect would be my holistic love for the game. While some are NBA enthusiasts or NFL enthusiasts, I am a league esports enthusiast. I really love the competitive scene in League. Almost a bit too much. I cried a lot when Dyrus retired. I even cried when Bjergsen retired.

League is easily my most favorite and played game. I disconnect with it every once in a while. I rarely played in sophomore/junior year, because I was playing another game or focused on school, but I always eventually came back to it. And that’s the essence of being in love. You don’t fall in love with it just once. You continuously fall in love with it.

I LOVE LEAGUEOFLEGENDS was originally published in Writing 150 Fall 2020 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Penny cleverly makes Elijah and Louis appear as opposites because of their opposing goals; both of them are fighting for Elijah’s future, Elijah wanting to be a sommelier and his father wanting him to take over the barbecue business. Their opposition is clear in their actions; both of them act extreme in their reluctance to give in to the goals of the other. Every time Louis tries teaching Elijah about running the business, he makes an excuse not to go, completely avoiding any chance of him coming closer to running the restaurant. Similarly, whenever Elijah’s goals of becoming a sommelier get brought up, Louis desperately steers the conversation in any other direction, whether he’s complaining about not getting the cookies he asked for in the hospital or asking someone to pass the green beans at dinner. Like his son, Louis avoids even the acknowledgement of anything besides his plan for Elijah.

This lack of acknowledgement from both parties slowly builds a rising conflict between them, driving them further and further apart until Elijah’s last day at home before heading on a wine study trip in Paris. On this day, he giveshis father a gift, a Barolo wine from Italy that a father and son created together. Consistent with his attitude towards his son’s passion up until this point, Louis ignores the sentiment of the gift and tells his son he doesn’t drink wine, passive aggressively assuring him that “your mom’ll drink it.” The two part ways on bad terms, only to meet again when Elijah receives word from Paris that his mother, Sylvia, has died of cancer.

Now, what does this death do to Penny’s characters, and what does it have to do with their relationship? Well, making these characters come together despite their opposing views on life forces them to, for the first time in the film, acknowledge each other’s perspectives. As Elijah sees his father struggle to run the restaurant without his mother, he feels empathy for him. Elijah talks to his father about his decision to take over the restaurant that Pop, Elijah’s grandfather and Louis’ father, left to Louis before he died. When Louis tells Elijah that, “Sometimes [he] wonders what it would’ve been like to be a teacher” but he knows that “Helping Pop was just more important than what [he] wanted”, Elijah finally understands his father; he needed to take over the restaurant because he felt it was his duty. For the first time, Elijah sees the future in a different light. Perhaps pursuing his goals and his goals only isn’t as important as it once appeared. Maybe his father and his idea of the future matters too.

From here, Elijah begins helping his father out at the restaurant and decides to put his sommelier aspirations on hold. As Elijah begins taking interest in the business, the two start to coexist peacefully for the first time in the story. One day, the two are getting drinks at a bar when Elijah orders wine and Louis hears his son and the bartender have a substantive, thorough discussion about which wine Elijah should order. Suddenly, he notices his son’s passion; once they leave the bar, he asks Elijah what’s happening with his sommelier exam, and Elijah tells him he has put it on hold, presumably indefinitely. Louis calls back to their earlier conversation and tells Elijah “I didn’t know what I wanted to do when Pop asked me to take over the restaurant… but I knew I had to go all in to find out.” For the first time in the film, Louis listens to Elijah. He realizes that wine is more than just fermented grapes and alcohol to his son, and in effect, becomes aware of the sacrifice Elijah is making in helping him with the restaurant.

A montage of Louis and Elijah working together on the restaurant and on his studying follows this scene, all the way until the day of Elijah’s exam. Elijah takes the exam and as he anxiously waits in his hotel room for the results to come in the next morning, Louis knocks on the door and lets himself in. He jokingly tells Elijah “The last thing [he needs] is her ass hanting [him] from the grave.” These characters have finally accepted each other’s perspectives. Penny visualizes this through the pair sharing the Barolo that Elijah bought him earlier over a game of dominoes, blending the European culture of Elijah’s passion with the Southern game of dominoes representing Louis’ love for barbecue.

When Louis tells Elijah that he came because his deceased mother might haunt him if he didn’t, it provides some comic relief, but has such a deeper meaning. Because of the death of Elijah’s mother, these two were forced to do the only thing necessary to repair their fragmented relationship: listen to each other. Though Louis jokes about Sylvia being the reason for his appearance, she quite literally brought them together, in spirit, and physically at this moment. At this point, the audience doesn’t know if Elijah passed his test, but it does not matter. The story here is about the relationship of father and son, and coming to terms with each other’s perspectives and goals despite their oppositions. Through the loss of Sylvia, these two characters are forced to confront the realities they previously were too scared to face, and come out closer because of it.

How Prentice Penny Uses Loss to Foster Growth in Uncorked was originally published in Writing 150 Fall 2020 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

That’s a TERRIBLE message because it makes us a bunch of hacks who don’t hold our representatives accountable and just trust them to be good because they identify with the same label as we do. These people forget that the Clinton Foundation is about as crooked as can be, that Hillary and the DNC practiced voter suppression in 2016 by changing voting times of pro-Bernie areas, that she literally said she has “public beliefs and private beliefs”, that she’s LOVED by the crooks on Wall St., and she voted for the Iraq War which killed 200k+ Iraqi civilians. Ever think that maybe, just maybe, that Trump is a SYMPTOM of a systemic and significant issue of our government and the fact that the democrats are corporatists just like the conservatives, and not that every single person that voted for Trump is just an idiot and “morally inferior” to you? People didn’t turn out for Hillary because the Obama Admin. didn’t do enough for people. He gave us a republican healthcare bill when he had a supermajority, ran on ending the wars and didn’t, always compromised and never fought on issues, etc. I’m not saying he didn’t do great things, but he definitely didn’t provide the change he promised.

So, basically, with the election less than a week away, I just really hope that when Biden probably gets elected, we don’t have this attitude of “going back to brunch” or else nothing will change, they’ll keep running the country like corporatists donor-pleasers, and it’ll eventually lead to Donald Trump Jr. getting elected and fast-forwarding global warming and the dissolve of the middle class by 60 years. For the love of god, check what Biden is doing, see if he’s helping the people that need it most because we are in a near Depression level economy, and many people can’t afford to not get help.

Back to Brunch was originally published in Writing 150 Fall 2020 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

From the start I was being encouraged to step away from the very straightforward essay writing I had been conditioned to do. We read Should Writers Use They Own English by Vershawn Ashanti Young where he proposes the idea that having and teaching a “standard” english is irrational. In class we then discussed how this idea applies to the way that we are taught to write in school. The 5 paragraph essay with a formulaic thesis has become essentially the only way students know how to write about their ideas. Professor Dissinger told us to step away from this approach. We needed to let the ideas lead the essay. It should be cohesive and flow from one paragraph to the next, rather than be broken up into very distinct paragraphs.

I’m pretty sure I thought I knew what I was doing. I didn’t claim to be the best writer, but I felt I was pretty solid and that my essays tended to be filled with ideas. But when I received my grade for WP1, I realized that my writing must not be as good as I thought. I still wasn’t quite sure how to fix it though. As we moved through the year, we talked a lot about how to improve our writing and did paragraph revision sessions so we could get a better idea of what we were striving for. Professor Dissinger showed us how the majority of our paragraphs had a long buildup to the main idea. He urged us to move the important stuff up in the paragraph. He continued to tell us that we all had good ideas, we just needed to make those ideas the focus of our essays.

With more practice, I started to better understand what my professor was saying. I needed to remove the unnecessary words. I needed to take my writing and condense it to the core ideas, and then go back and expand upon those ideas. As it was, my writing was kind of all over the place. I had a lot of underdeveloped concepts, and then a significant amount of information that wasn’t really contributing to the purpose of the paper. To anyone that wasn’t me who was reading my essay, they probably felt as though they were missing the links between the ideas. Those links were in my mind, but I hadn’t fully explained them.

The progress in my writing was most apparent to me when I went back to do my revision of WP1. I started by simply reading my original version, and honestly I was slightly appalled. It was terrible. I couldn’t believe that I had actually submitted it in the past. Two of the body paragraphs said essentially nothing that related to the main idea. While there may have been a connection that I originally had in my mind, I had not made that clear to the audience whatsoever. I ended up taking out the majority of the first half of that paper, and then I rewrote and reconstructed until I had something that actually made sense and had a purpose.

While it took some time to get used to, and I still haven’t mastered it, I have found that this style of writing truly results in a more idea driven essay. My ideas become the focus of the essay, and don’t get lost in the swarm of other words I have written. Doing this has allowed my writing to become less superficial. I no longer am trying to write super bulky paragraphs with multiple different ideas in each one. I am simply concentrating on getting my thoughts across to the reader.

All of this has taught me how to have more clarity in what I am writing. The ideas in my essays now feel less jumbled, and each paper as a whole has a clearer purpose. I feel like I can now write things that are worth reading; previously, a lot of what I had written was only being read by my teacher because they had to grade it. In the past I have been told to put more details into my writing. After this semester, I think I finally understand what everyone means. They wanted more details, but they wanted relevant details. They wanted me to go further into what I was thinking, and develop the ideas that were inside my head.

Ultimately this semester has given me more clarity about who I am as a person. In order to achieve the things I described above, I needed to think harder about what I actually felt. I had to dive into my own ideas in order to expand upon them. If you are vague in your ideas, then your writing is going to be vague. In order to create more idea driven essays, there needs to be substance to those ideas.

This semester I faced a good deal of writer’s block. Looking back, however, I think it was simply that I didn’t really know what I was trying to say. I had a few big ideas, but I wasn’t able to really get into those ideas and elaborate. When doing the revision of my WP3, I felt like I was more successful at finding what to say. Focusing on leading with specific ideas helped me to avoid feeling as though I had said everything I wanted to say in a few short paragraphs. By working on conveying my ideas, the essay got longer without me having to force it to.

Moving forward in my life, I hope to be able to take what I have learned this semester with me. I feel like my writing sounds more eloquent without being overly verbose. I also feel like I have a better understanding of comments that have been given to me in the past. Most importantly, though, I am glad that I have learned how to get away from the 5 paragraph essay. I knew that I wanted to, but my essays always seemed to take that form even if I didn’t try to construct them that way. Now I am able to write in a way that puts the focus on what I am trying to say, and I am happier with the work I am able to produce.

Improvement was originally published in Writing 150 Fall 2020 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

During the fifth-grade commencement ceremony, my class stood along the pews of the Memorial Chapel on St. Andrew’s College campus, listening to our school’s motto. “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit ye like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done with charity.” My fifth-grade self tried and failed to make meaning of the ancient phrase. Nevertheless, I experienced a bevy of emotions: wonder, awe, and respect. As I took in the memorial, a tribute to the 104 Old Boys killed in action during WWI, I realized my next eight years would be spent here.

The more time I spent exploring the school’s past that shapes its culture today, the better I understand the phrase I encountered when I was ten. Past students had participated in the two great wars with the 48th Highlanders, a regiment with Scottish origins. Consequently, the Gaelic phrase “dileas gu brath,” meaning faithful forever, was adopted as the motto of the 142 St. Andrew’s College Highland Cadet Corps. My school remains one of the few schools in Canada to preserve its military traditions.

At our Annual Cadet Inspections, alumni, students, and faculty are brought together as we don our Gordon kilts and red tunics. As I witnessed peers and older students passing out as they stood still during the inspections, the tradition seemed, to say the least, interesting. However, this is what my community represents: a culture of brotherhood rooted in tradition. In this way, the school community consider ourselves family, battling through the academic, athletic, and personal challenges together. It is the culture of brotherhood that connects the school’s past to its existence today. And when our school’s regimental sergeant major yells “dileas,” we cadets, along with the thousands of visitors on campus, are united with our response, as we shout “gu brath!” I feel the words sinking deeper into my core as I repeat them more loudly every year — just as those who came before me have done so during their battles.

In this way, I see myself as a promoter of the very values instilled by my community. As I proudly wear the school’s crest on my blazer that depicts the Saltire, I am reminded of the school’s motto I heard in the chapel. My time at the school has revealed a personal meaning for this ancient phrase: it teaches me to remain faithful to my values of integrity, be brave and strong under hardship, and to always act with love. When I see people who need assistance on the train, I am more mindful of their needs and offer my seat to them. My commitment to my community has grown through my participation in the Global Youth Leaders organization, as I take care of the trees in surroundings parks, read books and play the saxophone to the elderly at centers, and share my Korean culture and its staple kimchi to new members of the school. My faith in myself and in those around me has built my confidence and motivated me to share my values with others to create a more connected and generous community. But most importantly, the many phrases that my school community has adopted provide a sense of connectedness and fulfillment that I’ve failed to experience elsewhere. The community and traditions that I’ve come to adopt as my own have motivated me through the toughest of times, allowing me to always strive for excellence.

The Culture #2 (Revised) was originally published in Writing 150 Fall 2020 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

For the first several weeks after the official announcement about the pandemic, people were all scared by the situation. I remembered that during those days, every time I opened my social media, the only thing I could see was the new releases about the increasing confirmed cases. Since all the news was so passive, all people around me were frightened by the news, and they felt so hopeless and helpless.

The situation has changed until the release of a song called “The Children of Wuhan”. The lyrics of the song contained many places and food that represented Wuhan, and the main idea of the song was that Wuhan would be healthy again in the soon future. After the release of this song, many famous Chinese singers such as JJ Lin and G.E.M. published their own songs about the pandemic, which aimed to convey hope to the public and also gratefulness to people who work at the frontline.

Those songs had been streamed on social media and music apps for millions of times，and they showed the role of social solidarity in fighting against the pandemic. People who listened to the songs leaved comments about their confidence about getting through the tough time. When listening to the songs and viewing the comments, I was so touched, not only be the songs but the power of music. Music is invisible, but it can convey energy to people, and it has the power to smooth people’s stress and fear. When people listen to a song, they can resonate with the artist and also other people who listen to the song, which is why music can create social solidarity.

What I learned during the pandemic gives me more reasons to work in the music industry. I aspire to help artists create more encouraging and inspiring music, passing hope and energy to the listeners and making the world a better place.

The Power of Music was originally published in Writing 150 Fall 2020 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

This semester, I took a sociology course “Changing Family Forms”. From all the things I learned in that course, I was impressed by one term “Nested Inequalities”, which means that the inequality of education can exist across boundaries of states, school districts, schools within a district, class within a school, and sometimes separation within a class (Hochschild, 2003). This term interested me the most because it is relevant to my personal experience.

I have a cousin who is two years younger than me. From kindergarten to middle school, we were in different schools and different areas of the city, but for high school, her school was next to my high school. There was only one wall between our schools, but our learning experiences were completely different. In China, most of the schools are public schools that provide the education needed for GaoKao (Chinese college entrance examination), but there are also some private schools that offer international curriculums but charge higher tuition. Among the public schools, there are also differentiated by reputation and quality. My high school was one of the private schools, and my cousin was in a public school which was not good. Despite curriculums, class size, facility and teachers were also different in our schools. My class only has 35 students, but her class has more than 60 students; my high school has a big playground and a small auditorium, which my cousin’s school doesn’t have. Moreover, teachers in our school all had backgrounds of studying abroad, and there were also several teachers from the U.S. and U.K. In my cousin’s school, all the teachers were very young and inexperienced.

The wall between our schools shows how serious the problem of education inequality is in China. Even for schools that are next to each other can be so different, it would be no need to compare schools in the city with schools in the rural area. I cannot say that the education I received is much better than the one my cousin received, but I know that I have more resources and opportunities than her. The main reason behind education inequality is the old topic of income inequality. Only the high-income family can afford the tuition for private schools or good public schools, and some poor families are even unable to afford any education for their children.

In the soon future, I’d like to see the “wall” between schools being destroyed, so that students can have equal opportunities to have a high-quality education.

Work Cited

Hochschild, Jennifer L. 2003. “Social Class in Public Schools.” Journal of Social Issues 59:821–840.

A Wall Between Two Worlds was originally published in Writing 150 Fall 2020 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The debate of how the notion of “human nature” is perceived amongst the philosophers also shapes their arguments on the connections between justice and power. It is clear that there is disagreement amongst Chomsky and Foucault in terms of the validity of justice within the framework of the basis of human nature. It was very eye-opening to see the contrasting views and questions posed by Foucault as I had only solely looked into the work of Chomsky previously.

Foucault noted that “If you say that a certain human nature exists, then this human nature has not been given in actual society the rights and the possibilities which allow it to realize itself”, in this statement, he further bases many of his argument towards the class system and the implementation of capitalism. Through those, it helps to state the boundaries of his notion of justice as “human nature is alienated within a capitalist system”. As the capitalist system supports the Marxist ideology, to which it “admits that in capitalist societies mankind had not reached its full capacity for development and self realization”.

Chomsky, contrasting to Foucault, encourages the embrace of error in societal systems and less focus on the risk of the error. This less consequential worry carries through his view point as an anarcho-syndicalist, which is someone who questions political hierarchy and encourages the dismantling of oppressive institutions, pushing justice. As for Foucault, he states that“the power is within the hands of the government and is exerted through different institutions” and to which he questions Chomsky “Are you committing this act in virtue of an ideal justice, or because the class struggle makes it useful and necessary ? If you refer to ideal justice, that’s my problem.” as he also criticizes more of the independent institutions that cater to the people who have the resources to education, the upper class (to which he calls the real political class task), and less about the political powers. Foucault provides perspective on the limitations that arise as the“notion of justice functions within a society of classes, as a justification for the class which is oppressed”, by questioning the whole existence of justice as “in a classless society, Im not sure that we would still use this notion of justice”.

Foucault concludes that “one cannot put forwards these concepts to describe or justify a fight which should in principle, overthrow the very fundamentals of our society”. Yet in theory, according to Chomsky, regardless of the outcome, the recognition of both sides is needed to further the prospect of a “just” society within the broader umbrella of human nature. He articulate this by saying “our concept of human nature is partial, socially conditioned and contained by our own character defects and limitations to the intellectual culture in which we exists, yet it’s important to know of these “impossible goals” we as humans are trying to achieve”. In institutions of education, much like USC, we are encouraged to engage in political debate and implement our own ideas on the future of a just society. Chomsky prompts us to be “bold enough to speculate and create social theories on the basis of partial knowledge”. So, we must remain open to understanding that we are still a long way from implementing such understandings.

Video of reference below:

Noam Chomsky and Michel Foucault: A Conversation on Justice was originally published in Writing 150 Fall 2020 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Ever since I was conscious about the political climate of the United States, I realized I was surrounded by a hyper democratic community, which created my beliefs as product of my environment. From the school that I attended to, to my inner circle of friends and family in my community in San Francisco, the discussion of equality, diversity, and progressive thinking were encouraged. When I witnessed Donald Trump’s election in 2016, I was baffled that Trump’s attempt to “Make American great again” was through his narrative of keeping illegal immigrants out of the country, along with his many other policies, i.e the suppression women’s reproductive rights, lessened gun control, and his sheer disregard for climate change. During his four years, I witnessed that I had lost my sense of pride as an American. When I would travel I would hide my passport, as I felt my country had become a laughing stock of the world.

With the close build-up of the election a few weeks ago, I was genuinely shocked by the overwhelming support to re-elect Trump. Even more so how the topic of human rights and decency is not even a viable reason for more than 70 million people to choose. It’s very difficult to view the perspective of a Trump supporter, as the notion implies that they support his policies and the comments he’s made. With this, comes the attitude of not wanting to actively look into issues but to put the blame externally.

As observed through Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s instagram page, during a congratulatory post for President elect Joe Biden and and vice president elect Kamala Harris an array of comments reflect greatly the influence of Trump’s take on fake news by directly stating that AOC is “operating all of her viewpoints from the fake news media”. Some other examples include “Most corrupt victory”, “you will be laid off jobs and become homeless”, “Biden can’t form a sentence”,“We cannot let socialism into the country” or even the extent of “ yay for communism”. Even after the fact of simple tallied numbers to prove his win they continue to defend Trump by calling it a “Premature celebration” and blaming it on “phony votes”, much like the similar language used in the broadcasted debates amount reporting politicians.

News in itself, is expected to be objective as the viewers are expected, yet it’s unfortunate that the basis of the presidential election period is so shrouded in the compilation of jabbing comments and more performative, since it makes the message become muddles. It becomes less about unification and more about painting the other candidate as bad as possible.

It’s clear that Biden is not a perfect candidate but he at least provides some light in the time where it feels that Trump’s reign has tainted the decency of this country.

We the People, need to do better was originally published in Writing 150 Fall 2020 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.