Debaucheries of the Far Right

That, in the simplest terms, is how I understand the recent rulings of the Supreme Court of the United States.

We are now free to carry concealed handguns without meaningful state regulation. Women and girls are being forced to give birth, even in cases of rape and incest. We are increasingly unrestrained in our destruction of the environment. Prayer is being ushered back into public schools under the guise of freedom. What else can this be called, if not the debaucheries of this nation’s far right?

Photo by Fred Moon on Unsplash

When I began writing about political and social issues, it was not merely to register my personal views. It was to draw attention to something larger: the state of our shared humanity. Last November, when I referenced New York State’s gun control case before the Supreme Court alongside a recipe, I did not analyze the ruling in detail. I wrote instead about the deeper unease it stirred in me—the sorrow of realizing how many people live in such fear of one another that they feel entitled to carry lethal weapons as a form of reassurance.

I was not surprised, but I was still shaken, when the Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Women in this country lost fundamental authority over our bodies, our lives, and our reproductive choices. When I wrote about abortion rights last year, I could not escape the feeling that this moment was coming. Knowing it was possible did not make its arrival any less devastating.

As painful as it has been to watch the nation regress in human rights, personal safety, and social well-being, I find myself asking an uncomfortable question: how much responsibility do we share for what is unfolding now? While conservatives spent decades methodically building a Court engineered to deliver these outcomes, what did the rest of us do to ensure that gun control, reproductive rights, and environmental protections were not left vulnerable to constitutional interpretations drafted nearly 235 years ago?

If these rulings are not thunderous warnings to stop talking and start taking actions, then I don’t know what will be.

We can no longer rely on moral outrage or social media declarations. It is time to learn from the very forces we oppose. The National Rifle Association did not secure its power through feelings or hashtags. It did so through sustained financial pressure, legal strategy, and political influence.

The battles ahead will not be won over dinner conversations or online debates. They will be fought in courtrooms and on Capitol Hill—by lawyers, advocates, and lobbyists. And that work requires money.

So we need to be honest with ourselves. What is the price you are willing to pay for your beliefs? For your bodily autonomy? For your daughter’s, your niece’s, your granddaughter’s safety and freedom? What can you afford to contribute to reducing gun violence and mass shootings?

It is bleak to acknowledge that defending basic rights now demands financial commitment. But this is where we are. Polite disagreement will not restore reproductive rights, protect the environment, or curb gun violence. This will be a long fight. And the speed of our first victories will depend not on how eloquently we speak, but on how materially we are willing to support those fighting on our behalf—in the courts and in Congress.

_____

Archived essays:

Not for Amber Heard, But for Domestic Violence Victims

Excuse Me. We Are Not in 1791.

It Is Okay to Be Not Okay

The Grandeur of Mundaneness

And Just Like That... Samantha Moved to London!

Comments

Are We Living in 1864?

My heart sank. There it was on my iPhone: a New York Times headline— Justice Dept. Asks for 1-Day Sentence for Ex-Officer Convicted in the Killing of Breonna Taylor . It took me back to 2020. The deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd made headlines and triggered Black Lives Matter protests across the nation. Thousands of us marched, raised our fists, shouted Black Lives Matter, kneeled, shouted I can't breathe, and continued to march as we shouted no justice, no peace. Untitled by Robert Longo, 1981, at The Broad It was the year that made many of us realize that we hadn't changed much since the brutal torture and murder of Emmett Till in 1955. He was only fourteen years old when two white men brutally beat and killed him. There was no justice for Emmett Till 70 years ago. The judge rejected the Justice Department's sentence recommendation of one day and sentenced Brett Hankison to 33 months in prison for violating Breonna Taylor's civil rights. Was i...

Can We Please Return to Civility?

It is my word, civility. Merriam-Webster defines it as courtesy, politeness, a polite act or expression, and training in the humanities. Civility, for me, means exercising humanity with mindfulness toward others and the world we share. It is such a beautiful word, and I miss it. Not the word, but civility among us. I've been thinking about it quite often, even before former President Trump won the election and his return to the White House became inevitable. It was unsettling to watch such a hateful man win this nation's presidential election. Pasadena, California I am not concerned about his plan to deport unlawful residents of this nation. I am concerned that I will be targeted in a massive sweep as a Korean, so I will be carrying my United States Passport Card, a federal government-issued identification, as proof of my U.S. citizenship. Is it inconvenient? Not at all. It is the size of my California identification card. Unlawful residents. I rarely use undocumented or illega...

Curated Clutches: Tiny Bags, Big History

Before the clutch became the red-carpet punctuation mark of a gown, it had a more domestic ancestor: the reticule, a small handheld drawstring bag that emerged when women’s hidden tie-on pockets began losing their usefulness beneath slimmer, sheerer late-eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century dresses. What had once been tucked under petticoats was suddenly carried in public, and privacy became ornament: silk, velvet, beadwork, embroidery, a little theater of necessity held in the hand. The bag was never only a container; it was a social adjustment, a concession to fashion’s old habit of taking away utility and selling it back as elegance. Yoko Ono: Music of Mind at The Broad The modern clutch came into its own in the 1920s and 1930s, when evening moved faster, dresses grew sleeker, and women needed only the glamorous minimum: powder, mirror, lipstick, perhaps money, perhaps not. Tiny dance purses, Art Deco shapes, celluloid and Bakelite, metalwork and beading turned the bag into an o...

My Last Gift to Dad Was a Do-Not-Resuscitate Order

When Dr. Moon, a pain management specialist, told me about Dad’s wish, it was not the first time I had heard it. A few days earlier, Mom had told me that Dad wanted to be transferred from the hospital to hospice. I did not quite understand what hospice meant at the time. Between that conversation with Mom and the one with Dr. Moon, I had watched Dad take about twenty steps with the support of a walker and the assistance of a physical therapist. After seeing him come out of critical condition, I took those steps as a sign of recovery. So I was surprised when Dr. Moon told me that Dad had expressed his wish to end all medical treatments and go peacefully. I had been struggling with the continuation of his medical treatment. Three days after I wrote Will Love Give Us the Courage to Let Our Dad Go? , Dad passed away peacefully, as though he had simply fallen asleep, with a morphine drip erasing the pain that had once dominated him. He was eighty years old and had spent the last six years o...

Balsamic Caramelized Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts are one of those polarizing vegetables. They are either embraced or avoided with conviction. I once avoided them entirely, until I tasted them finished with balsamic glaze . The bitterness softened. The edges crisped. What had felt harsh became unexpectedly compelling. Roasted Brussels sprouts with caramelized edges, glossed in balsamic reduction and finished with brown sugar, change the equation. The exterior turns crisp and almost candied, while the centers remain tender. Sweet and acidic. Charred and balanced. While these Balsamic Caramelized Brussels Sprouts are dependable as a side dish, they hold their own as a meal in a bowl. INGREDIENTS [serves 4 as a side] one pound of Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved balsamic glaze made from a half cup of balsamic vinegar two teaspoons of brown sugar salt and pepper to season olive oil to drizzle Preheat the oven to 400°F. Arrange the Brussels sprouts cut side down on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Lightl...

Lime et Elephant Garlic Flower Shrimp

One of my favorite Sunday rituals is a slow walk through the Hollywood Farmers Market. It’s one of the largest in the area, expansive without feeling overwhelming, and a reliable place to stumble onto ingredients you didn’t know you were looking for. On a recent visit, I stopped at a garlic and onion farmer’s stand and found myself drawn to a bundle of elephant garlic flowers—tall, architectural, and unexpectedly delicate. I brought them home partly to live on the kitchen counter for a few days, and partly to see what they could do in a pan. Garlic, after all, has always had an easy affinity with shrimp. Lime followed naturally. The result is this dish: quick, aromatic, and bright, with just enough heat to keep things alert. INGREDIENTS [serves 3 to 4 as a main course] one pound of shrimp, peeled and deveined two limes two tablespoons of brown sugar one stem of elephant garlic flower, petals only two garlic cloves, sliced a half teaspoon of crushed red chili flakes two Korean ...

Pad Mee, My Way

In Thai and Lao kitchens, Pad Mee points broadly to stir-fried noodles: rice noodles loosened in a hot pan, glossed with sauce, sharpened by aromatics, and adjusted according to region, household, occasion, and whoever is standing closest to the wok. Ceramic bowl was wheel-thrown and glazed by me. Its history does not arrive with one neat origin story, which is part of its charm. Like many Southeast Asian noodle dishes, Pad Mee sits at the intersection of local rice culture, Chinese-influenced noodle cookery, and the everyday reality of feeding people quickly and well. Before a dish becomes famous enough to acquire fandom, it is usually just a meal. That is where Pad Mee is most interesting. It exists in variations: some sweeter, some darker, some spicier, some closer to Lao-style caramelized noodles served at gatherings, others tied to Thai regional cooking. Pad Mee Korat, from Nakhon Ratchasima, is one well-known branch of the family, but it is not the whole tree. Pad Mee’s real gl...

Will Love Give Us the Courage to Let Our Dad Go?

I believe the cruelest thing a human can experience is burying their child. While the only thing guaranteed in life, from the moment we take our first breath to our last, is death, for a parent to bury a child is not the natural progression of life. For more than six years, I have watched my Dad go through rounds of chemotherapy, years of dialysis, emergency room visits, and hospitalizations where doctors advised against further medical treatment—until my brother vehemently fought for it. If you ever need a medical advocate, you should hire him. Perhaps it is the lawyer in him that convinces doctors to shift their medical opinions. My Dad asked, and my brother passionately advocated for him for days so he could receive his first round of chemotherapy more than six years ago, which the doctor at first refused to administer since it was an unusual treatment for his autoimmune disease. He would have passed away within a matter of months without it. He did squats after his first chemothera...

Gwyneth Paltrow is Aloof, So What Are You?

There are days when I feel utterly disconnected from the world. It took an IG feed from Diet Prada for me to learn that Gwyneth Paltrow had starred in an ad for 51 Park, a luxury residential development in Herzliya, Israel. Herzliya is an affluent coastal city north of Tel Aviv, and the project is being marketed as a luxury residential development there. To be clear, 51 Park is not in Gaza. It is in Israel. But precision does not make the geography innocent: parts of present-day Herzliya overlap with or sit near the land of al-Haram, also known as Sidna Ali, a Palestinian Arab village depopulated in 1948. Lisbon, Portugal There is misinformation about where the 51 Park residential development is located, and the distinction matters. If our beating of Gwyneth Paltrow is going to be effective, it should at least be accurate. I have never liked her. I have never hated her. Even before the 51 Park ad controversy broke, I felt she was irrelevant. Her acting skills are not impressive. Would ...

Slow Cooked Gochujang Chicken

Created while I was developing a Dakdoritang (Korean spicy chicken stew) recipe for a slow cooker, this dish turned out to be something entirely different. Although the ingredients resemble those used in Dakdoritang, the flavor and texture developed in an unexpected way. Instead of a stew, the gochujang-based sauce thickened and clung to the chicken drumsticks as it slowly cooked, deepening in flavor over four hours. In a slow cooker, the sauce does not reduce the way it would on the stovetop; rather, the natural thickness of gochujang and the starch from the vegetables help create a rich sauce that coats the chicken. Ceramic bowls were wheel-thrown and glazed by me. While not what I originally intended to create, this Slow Cooked Gochujang Chicken turned out bold and deeply flavorful. Sometimes the results we did not plan for are far more interesting than the ones we set out to make. A note about the spearmint: while not traditional in gochujang-based dishes, it adds a subtle herbal b...

Exhaling Life

Search This Blog