Trump’s administration has sanctioned a campaign of extrajudicial kidnappings, careless deportation, and general terror. It has forced those it targets to ask the permanent question of will I still be here tomorrow, every day. So why do we only show our dissent if we get a little free time, and nothing good is on TV? In the No Kings protests, Jason Murillo PO ‘28 sees performance, not praxis. Cheerfully bobbing oh-so-clever signs on streetcorners does nothing to practically oppose a regime that has no respect for the Constitution, much less polite dissent.
Opinions
OPINION: Chosen family is not enough, we must be blood brothers
Gen Z is increasingly isolated, and traditional cures aren’t working. As this unhappiness runs rampant, we of course should keep trying to show up for one another. But our generation, Alex Benach PO ‘28 argues, needs a shot in the arm, one full of blood. Blood oaths, along with any other spiritual or occult community practice, could weld the spirits of the freak generation together against all odds.
OPINION: Why San Quentin’s reform model doesn’t do the trick
San Quentin Rehabilitation Center’s rebrand as a “Scandinavian style” prison, promises transformation through career training programs and improv classes, but after Leili Kamali PO ‘29 visited, she saw a different story.
OPINION: Under media oligarchy, TikTok isn’t the problem
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.
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.