TikTok is far from popular, and as Trump cozies up with the app’s CEO, it’s easy to accept its ban. However, Nicole Teh SC ’27 argues that its unique position to enact social change proves TikTok’s defensibility, and its removal might only exacerbate the perceived ills. The only way to fix its faults is with education.
Opinions
OPINION: Trump’s bigotry drove Latino conservatism
White Democrats are continually baffled by Latinos voting for Trump, a figure who seems to promote the minority as a special target of poisonous hatred. “Are conservative Latinos crazy?” rings the admonishing cry. Rafael Hernandez Guerrero PZ ’29 argues that Latinos for Trump have a logic that, however perverse, is deeply rooted in histories of American imperialism, racism and colonialism.
OPINION: LA can’t keep neglecting downtown; Convention Center expansion isn’t the answer
Why is Downtown Los Angeles putting billions of dollars into making Olympics 2028 appearances, while the infrastructural malignancies that have existed for years continue to eat away at its culture and prosperity for its residents? Steinman believes that the local Los Angeles legislature needs to reprioritize the quality of living for its residents before making blingy investments in an attempt to show off when the Olympics roll around.
OPINION: Use a condom before it’s too late
Gen Z, depending on who you ask, is a generation of prudes or perverts. However, Alex Benach PO ’28 argues that our primary sexual dysfunction is not prudeness but imprudence. Birth control is great and all, but wanting condomless sex puts you at more risk than you realize.
OPINION: On Poppin’ and Lockin’: How I developed a breakdancing addiction
During class registration, I thought, why would I sign up to do something I’m no good at? But, breakdancing has been the antidote to my efficiency complex. Everyone should consider diving into something new and uncomfortable, for the sake of expanding horizons.
OPINION: Celebrities can lose weight and still preach body positivity
The practice of body positivity has been massively misconstrued. True body positivity goes beyond acceptance of size, emphasizing peoples’ relationships with their bodies in terms of health, functionality and personal autonomy.
OPINION: Neoliberalism handed a Nazi’s son Chile’s presidency
A Chilean, a Chicagoan and a dictator walk into a South American nation. Why, after 50 years does a Nazi walk out, and why is the answer neoliberalism? The perfect storm of the Chilean coup d’état and the subsequent neoliberal regime is often credited with the nation’s economic rise. But Rafael Hernandez Guerrero PZ’29 argues that its policies, sowing the seeds of the disenfranchisement of the working and middle classes, have enabled the rise of far-right ideology there, and abroad.
OPINION: Social media makes you sexless and boring
It’s always embarrassing to see a bad photo of you on a friend’s social media. But could it be destroying our generation’s hopes of finding love? Kate Eisenreich SC’27 argues that the shaming forces of social media’s watchful eye, flushing your face when you look at posts you are tagged in, serve to dilute the authenticity of subcultures, social movements, and even relationships.
OPINION: Rural America deserves its place in the Abundance agenda
The Democratic Party needs to regain rural support, and the Abundance movement may be the solution. Proponents of Abundance hope to dismantle cost barriers to housing and has already brought thousands of new jobs to rural communities. Considering that Democratic economic platforms have historically uplifted rural Republicans, the liberal Abundance movement is the perfect solution to rural disaffection.
OPINION: MAGA conservatism has no place in Christianity
Charlie Kirk’s death was certainly an important moment in the history of the Trump administration, and perhaps even for the world at large. However, it certainly was not as important as Jesus’s death. That hasn’t stopped comparisons between the two. The MAGA movement’s hijack of Christian imagery, says Ansley Kang SC ‘29, is fundamentally in conflict with their rejection of Christian morals. Christians and agnostics alike should fight for the separation of church and state now more than ever, as MAGA’s new church only worships Trump.