ethics over excess

  • What If There Were No More Ads?

    What If There Were No More Ads?

    Imagine a world without ads. No billboards. No popups. No text messages telling you what to buy. No companies digging through your search history to sell you things you never needed in the first place.

    Just silence.
    Just space.
    Just life.

    We’ve been convinced that ads are necessary for business, for discovery, for innovation. But what they really do is interrupt. They create a hunger that wasn’t there. They push us into wanting more, spending more, needing more.

    But what if we only had what we looked for?

    What if companies existed only because we wanted them to?
    What if we found new things not from tracking and algorithms, but from each other, from stories shared, from people we trust, from our own curiosity?

    A world without ads wouldn’t mean a world without learning.
    It would mean learning without manipulation.

    No more psychological tricks.
    No more noise.
    Just peace.
    Just time.
    Just focus.

    We’d buy less, waste less, compare less.
    We’d live more, create more, and connect more.

    We’d stop being treated as targets.
    We’d start being treated and treating ourselves like people.

    Without ads, life wouldn’t slow down. It would get quieter, more intentional, more ours.

    Maybe we’d discover that less really is more.

    Maybe we’d finally feel free.

  • A Forest Worth Growing: Reimagining Humanity Without Divinity

    A Forest Worth Growing: Reimagining Humanity Without Divinity

    What if humanity no longer looked to the heavens for answers, but to each other? What if we saw ourselves not as chosen or condemned, but as interconnected parts of one vast, growing forest?

    At Ethics Over Excess, we believe in the essence of life: to arrive, grow, and die. We are not born to be the biggest tree. We are born to be part of the forest. In a world without gods, meaning is not lost. It is reclaimed. The spirit of life is not divinely assigned but biologically shared. We think, we walk, we talk, and we choose. And in choosing, we shape our world.

    Without religion, there is no divine scapegoat. There is no afterlife to fear, no judgment to await. There is only us, and that is enough. In that clarity, we find strength. The responsibility for our actions, our communities, and our shared future becomes our own. Ethics born from empathy, not scripture.

    Growth is not always easy. It requires sunlight and rain, struggle and stillness. Some of us are planted in the shade of others. Some refuse to grow, even when the sun is offered. But those who share their sunlight, who hold the soil together, make the forest thrive. They become the foundation for something greater than themselves.

    We are not here to dominate. We are here to contribute. And when we do, we reduce suffering, minimize injustice, and nurture hope. Not through excess, but through ethics. Growth is not greed. It is kindness, curiosity, and care made real.

    This is our forest. This is our time to grow.

  • Why I Started Ethics Over Excess

    Why I Started Ethics Over Excess

    “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”

    This quote has stuck with me for years. I’ve reached a point where I can’t stay quiet anymore. I ask myself constantly: what the hell can I do? The world we live in is built on distraction, greed, and inequality. I’ve tried ignoring it, scrolling past it, numbing myself but the weight never really goes away.

    At first, I thought I’d dive deep and profile billionaires, expose loopholes, call out bad policy. But honestly? That’s not my lane. I’m no investigative journalist or economist, and I’m not equipped to dissect documents like the Panama Papers. That kind of work takes teams of experts and years of research. So instead of getting overwhelmed, I made a shift: I decided to document my own awareness and growth. I may not have the credentials to challenge the rich or rewrite policy, but I can write about what it’s like to live as one of the 99% to leave a trail for others who feel this same unrest.

    This is where Ethics Over Excess comes in. This project is my response to the feeling of helplessness. It’s a space for exploration, honesty, and resistance. I’m not trying to change the world overnight, but I am trying to understand where it all went wrong. Maybe I’ll never know. But the least I can do is try.

    Like many people, I’ve been told I’m “valued” at work. I’ve been called an “asset.” But in ten years, I’ve only been promoted once. Sure, I make more money than when I started, but it doesn’t keep pace with inflation, housing costs, or the general chaos of the global economy. I’m lucky in many ways but I’m still being squeezed by the system. In America, we’re all one emergency away from debt. One totaled car, one ER visit, one bad month. And somehow, we’re expected to keep going like it’s all fine.

    I don’t have a lot of money. I barely have the time. I can’t afford to take off work and protest for days or weeks at a time.
    But I can write. I can think critically. I can document what this moment feels like.

    Maybe this won’t change the world but it might help someone else feel less alone. And maybe that’s enough to get started. I started Ethics Over Excess because I refuse to stay quiet—and because learning, reflecting, and resisting in small ways is better than doing nothing at all.