The War for Truth
I’ve been a questioner my whole life. My mom used to tell me, “You should be a lawyer when you grow up because you really know how to argue.” It wasn’t a compliment. It was frustration, understandably so. But questioning is all I know. If I don’t understand something, I have to figure it out. And as I’ve gotten older, those questions have only gotten louder. Why are we told to follow rules that were written to benefit someone else? Why are guidelines treated like holy scripture when they were designed to protect power, not people?
Life isn’t fair. We all know that. But there’s a difference between unfairness and corruption. Unfairness is watching someone born into wealth live a lavish, consequence-free life while you scrape by, building something that actually matters. It’s watching a trust fund baby light money on fire in a nightclub while you and your business partner are pinching pennies to fix real problems. Why is it that those who aim to move humanity forward often get the least support—financially, socially, and politically while others ride on inherited privilege?
Corruption is when that imbalance isn’t just an isolated event, but an entire system built to keep it going. The economy, the media, housing, education, an entire infrastructure tied up in knots so tight you’d need to burn it all down just to rebuild it. And somehow, the people responsible for the mess are the same ones running the cleanup crew.
The strange thing is, those dynasties are starting to crumble. Slowly. Messily. Gen Z and Gen Alpha are different. They’ve grown up inside this mess. They’ve seen the world for what it is from day one, and they’re not buying the glossy PR spin that kept previous generations complacent. Now, these kids don’t want to be astronauts or doctors anymore, rather they want to be TikTok dancers and influencers, sure—but they also want truth. They want transparency. They want the walls to come crumbling down.
Social media, for all its flaws, amplifies both sides. It’s a double-edged sword. On one side, it spreads deceit, manipulation, and curated perfection. On the other, it gives a platform to the people screaming “enough.” It’s chaotic, but for the first time, people are being heard on a scale that actually makes those in power nervous.
The tricky part is this: when everything becomes a “truth movement,” the very concept of truth gets corrupted. Every voice screams, “I have the truth!” and suddenly, no one knows who to believe. Oversaturation muddies the waters. The internet moves at lightning speed, and AI makes it nearly impossible to hide your skeletons. It also makes it hard to know what’s real in the first place. Whistleblowers are a perfect example. The media loves to paint them as dangerous, traitorous, the villain in the story. But in reality, they’re rewriting what it means to hold power accountable. I want to know if a company I’m buying from is exploiting me or my loved ones. I want to know who’s pulling the strings.
But even heroes have blind spots. Even noble intentions can spiral. How do we hold power accountable without tearing everything down? And how do we create balance without inciting chaos? It’s not easy. We’ve built such a complex web of systems, checks, and balances that even small fixes feel impossible. And while you may think we’re on the brink of World War IV, you’re behind… because we’re already in it. Not with bombs and armies, but with data, tech, and manipulation. While physical wars unfold across the globe, another equally terrifying war is fought behind screens, in private boardrooms, and deep within the tech we use every single day.
We can’t just Thanos-snap our way to a clean slate. Global resets don’t exist. Local victories are inspiring, but they rarely ripple up to a global scale without unimaginable chaos. David doesn’t beat Goliath in real life. At least, not yet.
So, what can we do? The answer isn’t cinematic or sexy: be a good person. That’s it. Be honest. Choose work that genuinely helps others. Teach ethics to the next generation. Find light and persevere. And when all else fails? Smile, laugh, and love with intent. Because corruption feeds on darkness, in secrecy, fear, and silence. Every act of truth-telling, every small moment of defiance, every little spark of kindness chips away at that darkness.
The world will always be messy and evil will always exist. But if enough of us choose light, again and again, we make it harder for corruption to survive. It’s not about overthrowing the system in one dramatic move, it’s about millions of small, quiet acts of resistance that add up to something unstoppable. Power only wins when we stop asking why.
written, Out Loud
