A few days ago, I shared a photo of a homeless man sleeping beside a coffee shop in downtown Vancouver. My heart was heavy—not just for him, but for what this moment said about us. About our culture. Our indifference. Our failure to lead.
Shortly after, a local critic on a neighborhood app tried to chastise me, accusing me of “exploiting a vulnerable person.” He completely missed the point.
Every time I speak up, there’s always someone who takes offense—
Not at the issue,
But at the fact I dared to show it.
That right there… is the problem.
We’re living in a time where calling out the truth is more offensive than the truth itself.
Where exposing reality gets more backlash than the brokenness we’re trying to fix.
And we wonder why things aren’t changing.
Let me be clear:
I don’t post these things for likes.
I’m not trying to go viral off someone else’s pain.
I’m not here to collect applause or put on a “good guy” show.
I didn’t need to post about helping the kid in that photo—
I did help him, off camera, after the fact,
Like a man should. Quietly.
Because that moment wasn’t about me.
It was about the condition of our culture.
I didn’t show his face. I didn’t expose him. I exposed us.
We talk about leadership, legacy, character, responsibility—
And yet when someone holds up a mirror to the failures in our system,
We flinch.
We react.
We criticize.
We ‘heroically’ type on our keyboards.
Not because it’s wrong—
But because deep down, we know we’ve been comfortable doing nothing.
That’s what makes us squirm.
We’ve got young men overdosing,
Disappearing into screens,
Spiraling into violence or depression—
And society is more outraged by the photo than the problem.
Are you serious?
I don’t take joy in discomfort—
But I believe in the power of confrontation.
If my words or images sting—
It’s probably because they’re hitting the part of you that knows
We could’ve done more.
That we still can.
What we need now isn’t more emotional shielding.
It’s moral courage.
Less pearl-clutching.
More sleeve-rolling.
If your first reaction to a call for responsibility is offense,
Instead of action—
You’re part of the reason we’re stuck.
We’ve normalized weakness and masked it as politeness.
We’ve excused apathy as “staying in our lane.”
And now, when someone dares to get loud about doing better,
It rattles the comfort cage people have built around their conscience.
I’m not sorry for disturbing the peace—
Because the peace was fake.
If we were really the wise, responsible generation we like to believe we are,
Our youth wouldn’t be drowning
While we sit back and post nostalgic memes about “the good old days.”
The good old days failed too—because they produced this.
So don’t tell me it’s “too much.”
What’s too much is:
- Burying another son who didn’t have direction
- Another girl who never got protected
- Another generation that doesn’t know what real leadership looks like
Because we traded action for opinion,
And vision for victimhood
This isn’t about shame.
This is about ownership.
You’re offended? Good.
Now do something.
– Andrey Ivanov
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