“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.
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