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In Part 10 of Beyond Material Salvation I wrote that modern identity has become a kind of moral credit system—one where we borrow traits, virtues, and performances from the future self we hope to become. “Fake it until you make it” is the slogan of that system. This is the heart of Material Salvationism : the belief that virtue, competence, and even personhood can be constructed through external signals—through the right behaviours, purchases, aesthetics, and performances.

I first heard the expression “fake it until you make it” from a Human Resources professional who pitched it as a strategy for success. “If you don’t feel like you deserve it,” she said, “just fake it.” It was a wild admission. I was early in my career—the age where self-doubt follows you like a shadow—but even then something about that advice rang hollow. It didn’t just sound dishonest. It sounded dangerous. As I understand it, the idea behind fake it is straightforward eno

In Beyond Material Salvation , Chapters 9 and 10 dig into something most Canadians sense but rarely articulate: debt isn’t an accident — it’s a cultural operating system. And once you start to see it, you can’t unsee it. We often imagine debt as a “personal finance problem,” but Chapters 9 and 10 show it’s far more than that. It’s a worldview — one engineered by a credit system that knows exactly how we think, fear, hope, and aspire. Chapter 9: The Debt Advisory Marketplace

We like to imagine ourselves as ethical creatures — principled, responsible, discerning. But in a consumer society, even our ethics get repackaged, shrink-wrapped, and sold back to us as lifestyle choices. Ethical consumption becomes a trend. Virtue becomes a look. And the performance of goodness becomes yet another thing to buy, display, and eventually discard when the algorithm shifts its attention elsewhere. It’s not that people are insincere. It’s that sincerity itself ha

I spent a short period in the Canadian reserves in my youth—infantry with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment. I never saw combat, and because of that I’ve never truly felt like I “served.” In hindsight, it feels more like I tried on the costume but never stepped onto the stage where the real story unfolds. Earlier this week I watched In Waves and War , a documentary about veterans using psychedelic therapy to treat psychological wounds. And I found myself struck—not just by their pa

“Buyer beware.” It’s a worldview born of that same ethos that proudly declares, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” On the surface, it’s about taking personal responsibility—owning your choices as a consumer in a complex world. But if you listen closely, you can almost hear the smug whisper beneath it: “A fool and his money soon will part.” Now, I’m a believer in radical responsibility—the idea that embracing our agency frees us from the despair of helplessness. But persona

Woman with a cabbage over her face There’s something not just pitiful but deeply unsettling in witnessing someone living in squalor — a life marked by poverty and neglect. For some, that sight stirs compassion; for others, it stirs disgust. Compassion says, “We can help. With our agency, we can end this suffering.”  Disgust says, “If we get too close, we’ll be infected by it.”  Whatever the instinctive response, most people agree that to be lifted from squalor is more humane

In Beyond Material Salvation – Rethinking Insolvency and Debtor Morality, I draw on decades of firsthand experience helping Canadians navigate the complex terrain of debt, insolvency, and financial recovery. The book moves beyond mere money management to expose the moral, psychological, and cultural forces that shape how we think about debt — and ourselves. At the centre of my critique is a sobering look at the Canadian credit counselling industry. Long perceived as the mora

A bearded man holding a sign that reads, "Seeking Human Kindness." Recently, as I was walking through my neighborhood, I came across an...

A woman peeling of a mask to reveal her face Welcome—and thank you for finding your way here. This website is many things: a home for my...