Son of a Trump

In the 21st century, where the very foundations of knowledge are often obscured by the murky waters of misinformation, certain individuals wield power by distorting scientific facts and historical truths, driven by selfish motives: the accumulation of wealth, the consolidation of influence, or a malicious intent to harm. These forces manipulate the minds of the people, making it all the more necessary for the citizens of this world to have access to data that is both true and reliable before engaging in the debates that shape the course of their destinies. The troubling reality, however, is that while all men and women may have opinions on the great controversies of our time, not all of them possess informed opinions. This ignorance, whether born of neglect or design, poisons our collective wisdom.

At the heart of this malaise lies a deep and abiding cancer: white supremacy. It does not merely tarnish our scholarship or rob us of our collective humanity; it poisons the very soul of civilization, perpetuating a system where those of color are degraded and mistreated, even while their knowledge, contributions, and very existence are disregarded. This scourge deforms our society in ways that we may not fully grasp, but its grip on the world remains strong, hindering the true progress of all peoples, and creating vast chasms of inequality that perpetuate suffering.

Compounding this moral sickness is the rhetoric of manipulation, a rhetoric that serves to silence the voices of those who are most in need of hearing and being heard. Our leaders, once entrusted with the sacred responsibility to serve the people, are too often shackled by their own fears of losing power, or by the insidious whisperings of those who seek only to perpetuate their own agendas. They fail to hear the cries of the oppressed, the forgotten, the marginalized—those whose grievances are often drowned out in the clamor for wealth, status, and control.

And what of the institutions of higher learning? Where once the halls of universities were thought to be the sanctuary for intellectual growth, now they too have fallen prey to the corrupting forces of money. Wealth has become the deciding factor in who gains access to these bastions of knowledge, turning merit into a secondary consideration. The children of the rich, those born into privilege, stride through the gates of academia, with the help of bought doctors’ diagnoses and accommodations for schoolwork and standardized exams, while the less fortunate, despite their promise, are turned away. This inequality does not simply end at the gates of the university; it carries over into every industry, resulting in a concentration of incompetence in critical positions, where the wealthiest, not the most capable, hold sway.

Moreover, there is a growing disparity between what is taught in universities and what is demanded in the world beyond its walls. The curricula of our educational institutions are not aligned with the needs of the marketplace, leaving many graduates unprepared for the realities of the workforce. Thus, we face a situation where the very purpose of education—to equip individuals with the skills to contribute meaningfully to society—is undermined.

In the realm of business, marketing now takes precedence over the quality of the products or services offered. It is no longer enough for a company to produce something of genuine value; they must first and foremost ensure that it is presented in a way that captures the consumer’s attention, regardless of whether it serves their true needs. In this environment, the art of leadership has eclipsed the science of management. Leaders, driven by the forces of capital, are less concerned with the long-term health of their organizations and more focused on short-term profits. The CEO, once a figurehead of vision and foresight, now often behaves more like a chief financial officer—obsessed with numbers and the immediate bottom line, rather than the broader, more profound mission of their respective company.

The business world is also rife with consensus literature, and while such documents may provide some semblance of order, they stifle true innovation. There can be no paradigm shift when the prevailing mindset is content to simply reinforce existing structures, never questioning whether those structures might be flawed. The same can be said for academic and professional journals, where racial biases persist, cloaked under the guise of objectivity, and where the voices of those outside the narrow confines of Western thought are often relegated to the margins.

At the same time, technology continues to advance at an exponential rate, and while most people are vaguely aware of its impact, few truly understand its potential to reshape the world. Artificial intelligence, which holds the promise of fundamentally altering every aspect of society, from business to human relationships, is misunderstood by many, though the few who hold the keys to its power—our tech CEOs—are well aware of its far-reaching implications. Yet, even as they grasp the future, they continue to focus too heavily on profits, missing the larger, more urgent questions of how to ensure that technology serves the needs of all people, not just the privileged few.

In the field of medicine, Eurocentrism continues to obscure the contributions of non-Western medical traditions. The history of medicine has been written from one vantage point, and it often fails to account for the wisdom of other cultures, relegating their knowledge to the background. Medical researchers, trapped within their specialized silos, fail to communicate across disciplines, narrowing the scope of progress that could be achieved if they worked together in a more holistic manner. And finally, the promising field of neuroengineering, which has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of the brain and human cognition, remains underfunded and underreported. The promise of this science is immense, yet income inequality will undoubtedly ensure that the benefits of these advancements will remain out of reach for those who need them most, while the wealthy reap the rewards of scientific progress.

Thus, we find ourselves at a crossroads, caught between the promise of progress and the weight of the past. It is up to us to ensure that the future we create is one in which knowledge is shared equally, power is not hoarded, and every human being, regardless of race or wealth, is afforded the opportunity to contribute to the common good.