The fall of the United States

Our broken capitalism and greedy political leaders, racialized trauma, old folklores, and too many dang emails

Image by James Heimer

Hi friend,

The country that once was a beacon of hope and freedom for many, has consistently failed to support its citizens and allies from around the world.

From the ineptitude of political leaders failing to establish mask and vaccine mandates in the midst of the pandemic, to Biden’s failed retreat out of Afghanistan (which will haunt him for ages to come), the United States has lost its way in the global community.

The country is no longer the leading voice of hope and change in an ever-changing world. It does not stand for what a majority of its people believe, nor has it ever really stood for what many Americans are willing to die fighting against – tyranny, oppression, and control. In fact, the United States has embodied and emboldened the exact values it claimed to stand against. Our political leaders have become tyrants themselves as they continue to fail their constituents through this pandemic and humanitarian crisis. And even deeper than this lies a capitalist system, far broken than we realize.

Our wealth inequity continues to widen with statistics beyond comprehension:

• The richest 8 men in the world own more wealth than half of the world

• The richest 3 men in America own more wealth than half of America

• Billionaires experienced a net wealth increase of $1.2T during the pandemic

• Rich people pay close to nothing in income tax

For the better or worse, the pandemic has brought to the surface many social issues by accelerating its growth and revealing widening inequities. The pain has percolated to the surface, bubbling and beckoning our attention.

As I find myself hopeless at times, becoming more conscious of my privilege has been a glimmer of hope to stand for and create a better future for those who have less than myself:

• 50% of the world make an annual salary of $9,480 or less

• 25% of the world are in war-torn regions and face conflict and violence each day

• 9.2% of the world lives in extreme poverty on less than $1.90/day

• 8.9% of the world go to bed hungry each night (even though we have enough food to feed everyone in this world 1.5x over)

Every single human deserves to experience a life that is free of hunger, pain, and chronic stress. While I am at a loss with what to do about our politicians and wealthy business owners (revolution? 🤷), we can still make a huge difference for those that have less than ourselves.

Perhaps the little steps we take can one day snowball into something greater than we are aware of. Whether its money, time, or attention, I’m realizing now more than ever that giving is the antidote to a broken system.

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What I’m up to

For queer BIPOC designers: Wednesday, September 14 - To leave or not to leave? Panel with Reality Canty x Steven Wakabayashi

For queer Asians: Sunday, September 19 - Yellow Glitter Sparkes, Gaysian support group

For Asians: Sunday, September 26 - Asian American Healing Space

Talks

Friday, September 17 - DesignConf by Learners

Thursday, September 23 - IDC (International Design Conference)

Friday, October 22 - Button Content Design Conference

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A story of survival

I’ve been diving into a ton of books on race in the past few years, and My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem puts it in a really interesting and compelling narrative, centered on trauma we all have embodied over generations.

Additionally, there are specific chapters for white folx, people working in activism, and those in law enforcement that add another layer of understanding how race hurts us all. Highly recommend.

A story of growth

Recently watched The Green Knight by A24, and I was pleasantly surprised with the unique take on an old folklore of King Arthur and his nephew, Sir Gawain. Not as much magic as I had thought (based on the trailer), but much more theoretical and thinking involved (a nice change from most movies nowadays).

A story of my life

As always, thanks for reading!

P.S. If you enjoyed this, share or sign up here: mindfulmoments.substack.com

Anything else? You can always hit "reply" to email me directly. 💌

Have a beautiful day!

Metta (loving-kindness),
Steven

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