My favorite story by Umair Haque

Now, a confession. I’d not be here on Medium if it weren’t for Umair. I signed up for the platform a couple of years ago and enjoyed it as a reader. Umair, with his dark collapse porn, caught my attention early on and I’d follow him — on and off — for months. He fascinated me and annoyed me. Medium and Umair became kind of synonymous, in the early stages of my Medium journey.

Then I started mocking Umair in my comments on his stories — not that he gives a shit about my comments. His darkness is so ridiculous, predictable, and repetitive, that I couldn’t help reacting to his posts.

Then something changed! I actually liked one of Umair’s stories. It was around Thanksgiving. I posted a comment and Umair clapped! I appreciated his empathy!

Recently Umair wrote this story. It’s not perfect, but its underlying theme — that of the need to build a community — resonated with me. Umair calls it a “moral community” and I’m not here to analyze his article in detail. But I think I understand what Umair is calling for, what he’s longing for.

Let me explain, by referring to… Umair’s other themes.

He frequently criticizes the world’s richest people for not using their billions to help the world. I don’t clap for these stories. Why? Because I don’t feel Umair or I have the right to criticize others unless we, as individuals, act accordingly, at our level, however infinitely smaller. Umair makes thousands from his writing. Has he helped those in need, the planet in need…