You didn't sign up for this

I’m a first generation descendent of Taiwanese immigrants.

In case you don’t know where that is, it’s that tiny little island just south of Japan and a right off the coast of China. It’s got some of the best food in the world and some of the most advanced technology manufacturing squeezed onto that mountain range sticking up out of the Pacific.

Specifically, it’s home to TSMC, the largest chipmaker in the world that supplies over 90% of the most advanced integrated circuits (IC’s) on the planet.

Beyond my family and my parents who live here in the US, my extended family on both sides live there.

As of February 28th, it feels like our days are numbered now. Somewhere out there in the world a countdown started.

For the first time in my adult life, I feel like I truly don’t have a place in the world.

The “Hold My Beer” Moment

Pearl Harbor. December 7th, 1941.

New York City. September 11th, 2001.

White House Oval Office. February 28th, 2025.

Each of these days have a significance in US history. The first two resulted in conflict on a larger scale that lead to war.

I sincerely hope that I’m wrong in feeling that the last one will do the same.

I only studied the first one when I learned about the second world war in high school. At the time, our country was still largely on the sidelines due to the perspective that it wasn’t going to be our concern here sandwiched between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. People largely got the news from radio.

I was a freshman at Duke when 9/11 happened. You could feel the tension in the air throughout the day as everyone shut down for the day to gather in the common rooms of each dorm to watch the horror unfold on the television as the towers fell. Many of my fellow students lost relatives and friends that day.

I’m a 42-year-old man with a wife and two children, and I have a career as an engineer and a content creator as history veers into hauntingly familiar territory. I was driving my parents and my brother to the airport when it happened. With the upheaval and mass firings across the board and increasing mishaps with air travel, I was more than a little concerned for their safety.

It was during this time that the US fell to the dark side.

My mind is still reeling from it, and I’m seething at the idea that schoolyard bullies decided to gang up on the new kid to steal his lunch money. Except this time, it wasn’t on the playground during mid-morning recess…

It was in the White House Oval Office.

In a little under eight minutes, a leader of a democratic nation stood up for a second time to extortion and intimidation tactics from the very same person who attempted to do it to him a few years ago. It left 80 years of diplomacy, leadership, and tradition in ruins and set my country, the United States of America, down another path.

Before this near century-long effort as lead nation of the free world, the US had been in a period of isolationism.

Now, it appears that we’re going back to that sentiment.

But it’s got nothing to do with me…

Unless you’re Russian American, Ukrainian American, or have any connection at all to these two countries, then yes, I suppose you can think that…until you can’t.

I have neighbors down the street from both countries living next to each other. I distinctly remember last year speaking to them, and they were horrified at the war. Away from the Russian media engine, the Russians were embarrassed and ashamed at what their homeland was doing. The Ukrainians were in constant contact with their loved ones back home. I can remember more than one occasion watching their children play together after school.

Last month, a “for sale” sign went up for one of them. I hope that it is unrelated to what’s happening now.

For Asian Americans who immigrated from Taiwan, China, or Hong Kong, there’s a similar state of concern. I teach Chinese as one of the instructors for the local Chinese school here in South Carolina. We don’t talk about politics, but it looms in the background. We all have our lives to lead here, and we are more focused on raising our children in a multicultural environment and understanding their dual heritage.

That task just got a lot more complicated.

In some ways, it feels like we’re about to be rug-pulled. The seven-course meal is about to begin, and Ukraine was the appetizer with Russia. Taiwan is likely on the agenda with China when this terrible turn of events is concluded. Gaza with Israel, Greenland, Panama…these are likely somewhere on the offering as well.

Before this debacle, the US had a meeting with Russia hosted by Saudi Arabia concerning the future of the Ukraine/Russia conflict. Ukraine wasn’t a part of that conversation at all.

I’m reminded of a powerful, now chilling statement from one Abigail Thorn of Philosophy Tube:

I have absolutely no doubt that a similar meeting will take place soon with President Xi, and I’m willing to bet that TSMC will be a bargaining chip the same way that Ukraine’s rare earth minerals are right now.

As a computer engineer whose career has spanned multiple levels of technical complexity, I can say with confidence that having control of both of these would decidedly shift the balance of power for this dark triumvirate.

The future is highly uncertain, and I almost prefer the “Terminator” timeline if I start thinking about it too deeply. Achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI) before all this happens would actually give a lot of weight to the short horror story “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” by Harlan Ellison. There, a bleak world dominated by multiple AI’s originating from old Earth nations struggle for domination, with the main storyline focused around one endlessly torture five individuals from different walks of life.

What’s happened in the past few weeks has put the world on its heels.

It’s got everything to do with you

This newsletter is about creating a digital footprint, a digital heirloom, for the people that matter to you. I walk the walk and talk the talk, and I intend to demonstrate that throughout the course that I develop and share my journey with you. I know this isn’t quite what you signed up for, but I’ll take a page from President Volodomir Zelensky and stand my ground on my principles.

Writing about identity, prismatic and critical thinking, and personal experiences has crystallized for me what I stand for in my values and beliefs and why I’m here. I’m not just another guru here to sell you something or some leftist lunatic who is drunk on the Kool-Aid. As a blue dot in a sea of red here in the Deep South, I know my political views aren’t exactly popular.

We’re way past the point of it being about left or right. It’s now about right and wrong. I can debate about what kind of role the government should or shouldn’t have in our lives, but when the wheels start coming off the wagon as it careens down the hill and the brakes don’t work, it’s time to get into another set of tactics entirely.

Last time I checked, this is OUR democracy. WE are the ones who put our faith in the people we elect to fight for OUR communities and OUR neighbors, regardless of whether they tolerate us or not. My parents came to the US in hopes of giving me a better future, and they succeeded.

Now, it’s my turn to do the same for mine.

A commitment we all must make

The message of this newsletter is simple: I show you how to better understand yourself, how to express yourself, and leave a digital footprint behind that represents an echo of your identity. There will be times when I reveal to you my opinions that may cause you discomfort. There are parts of yourself you must face and share that your loved ones may not like. It’s part of the process. I would be distorting the picture for you if I tried to be absolutely the perfect avatar for your journey.

Go talk to an AI agent if that’s what you want.

I’m flawed, at times impatient, at times prone to perfection and highly reluctant to promote myself. I’m struggling to re-parent myself from self-inflicted emotional abuse. I’m far from a perfect father and in an open marriage where I choose to be monogamous. I’m a lifelong Democrat who has recently decided to become independent due to the apparent impotence of the party against fascism, and I’m not a Christian or a Buddhist. I despise willful ignorance, but I understand the need to make timely decisions based on limited information which is why I won’t automatically condemn every MAGAmind I come across. De-programming the ones that can be saved from complete brainwashing is possible. Just ask North Koreans who made it out (especially now).

With what happened on February 28th, 2025, my “why” for this newsletter got a lot more personal than I thought possible. Everyone has a right to form their own opinions,. Everyone has a right to information that is accurate and truthful. Everyone has a right to be taught how to critically think and question everything for themselves free of intimidation and retribution. I don’t know all the answers for these things, but I’ve got to try. It’s all I have to offer.

This is my hill.

P. S.

I know these issues are becoming long, and that I’ve got a lot to say. In some ways, I’m going into SSJ2 where I will compress it all so that I can say more with less words. Right now, I just can’t stop writing when I get going. You’re closest to the fire hydrant. You’re going to get wet every now and then.