personal stories

“When discourse ends, violence begins,”. From the Small Stage to Center Stage

Kirk co-founded Turning Point USA when he was just 18 years old. What started as a small group of like-minded college students grew into one of the most influential youth movements in the United States. 

Kirk traveled from campus to campus, never shying away from hard questions or loud opposition. For him, the university wasn’t a battlefield — it was a classroom where young minds could (and, more importantly, should) wrestle with ideas, disagree passionately, and still walk out the door as neighbors.

“When discourse ends, violence begins,” Kirk was fond of saying.

Charlie Kirk’s Legacy

Kirk’s death is a painful reminder that when we equate one’s political opinions with their morality, we undermine our own. When we stop listening to each other and focus solely on our differences, we lose sight of all we have in common.

America was built by people of different cultures, faiths, and colors who believed that we could live in harmony and even prosper, not because we agree on everything, but because freedom allows us to be the best version of ourselves.

That is what Charlie Kirk fought for — and what he died for.

Today, Kirk’s voice was silenced — but his message endures. 

May he rest in peace.

- The Wellness Company

Failing to Learn to Drive. After I got my learner’s permit, my mom took me to a large parking lot near our house to teach me how to drive. She had a manual car, because that’s what she learned back in Uruguay and she liked it better.

She explained to me how the clutch, break and accelerator work (I had no model of it before this). and how to do the gentle handoff between letting go of the clutch as you engage the accelerator. But there was a problem - she told me the clutch and the break reversed, meaning she told me the clutch was the break pedal, and the break was the clutch.

When I tried to start the car and put it into gear, the car would start jerking violently back and forth, and then stall. i did this again and again for an hour. Every once in a while we’d trade seats, and my mom would carefully pay attention to how she was doing it, and then proceed to explain it to me wrong again and again. At some point I said I must be doing something wrong and she said Clearly! in anger. I was totally convinced I’d never be able to learn how to drive.

Somehow every one in twenty attempts worked, and I was able to get the car into first gear and drive around. I would then try to get into second gear and the same thing would happen again - jerk violently and then stall.

At some point I managed to get into second gear by miracle, and after driving around the parking lot a few times, she suggested we take it out into the street and drive home. When I got to the first intersection, I got in a collision with a car that turned illegaly (I had the green light). there was no damage to my car, but the other guy broke his headlight. He then drove off in a hurry instead of exchanging information.

I was now stuck in the middle of the intersection, in a panic, with cars waiting in every direction, and I couldn’t get the car started. i was trying but it kept jerking and stalling every time. eventually we traded seats, in front of everyone, and drove home. I was super embarrassed.
I never asked my mom to teach me to drive (or anything else) after that, and for the next two years I commuted to college via subway, an hour and a half each way, every day.
It wasn’t until late sophomore year that I made a friend, Elkin, who was willing to patiently and kindly teach me to drive manual. He drove me to the driving exam, which I then failed. Three times. Motor skills don’t come easy to me. Finally the fourth time I passed.

Thank you Elkin for your help. you were a great friend.

Could it be ethically ok to not vote? note: I posted this two hours before Biden stepped down. It’s possible that a different Dem candidate could change my choices, but my overall perspective feels the same.

A lot of people I’m close to have very strong opinions that to not vote in this presidential election is wrong. But I have no interest in voting. It genuinely seems to me that things will be perfectly not ideal no matter what happens in the election.

My best guess of what’s happening culturally is that the mean green meme has gotten really far down its negative feedback loop, and red, orange, and amber are swarming on the attack. If that’s right, a breaking point of sorts will have to be hit for teal to get to its tipping point. In 12-step terms, green would have to hit rock bottom to be able to finally admit it has a problem and needs help.

I wouldn’t be surprised if teal’s tipping point would have to be particularly intense because it’s also the tipping point into second tier, and we have no historical reference for what it takes for a culture to begin to get a foothold in a new tier (the big bang, the formulation of simple cells, and the leap from apes to humans might be comparable but difficult to translate…)

This thought process just leaves me trusting what’s happening, and voting just doesn’t feel like one of the ways I want to participate in this happening.