The Mac vs PC Guy Made Me Rethink Indigenous Rights
What your stance on Indigenous rights actually reveals about who you want to be.
Good morning!
Last Saturday was supposed to be my day off.
I was at the Apple Store in Grand Central Station, trying to swap my regular Apple Pencil for the Pro version. Just a quick errand. But walking through those tourist crowds, dodging people photographing the ceiling constellations, my brain was still chewing on Friday.
Dr. Frances Vaka'uta had dropped this line at the BBNJ side event we organized: "We need to focus on where the pedal meets the wave." Her version of "where the rubber meets the road," but way cooler because we're talking about ocean governance.
So, randomly on Saturday, I remembered those old Mac vs PC commercials.
You know the ones: Justin Long as the cool, relaxed Mac guy. John Hodgman as the stuffy, complicated PC in a suit. But here's what hit me in that moment: those ads didn't just humanize computers. They made people see themselves in their tech choice.
Buying a Mac wasn't about gigahertz and RAM. It was about being the kind of person who values creativity over complexity. The kind who chooses elegance over bureaucracy. The kind who says "I'm not corporate suit guy but I'm creative, authentic human guy."
Standing there in Grand Central, still processing my week (the side event, that 3.5-hour livestream I did, all the BBNJ policy gems bouncing around), I had this thought:
What if choosing UNDRIP over Colonial Law said something about who you are as a person?
The Identity Question Nobody's Asking
Right now, UNDRIP feels like policy mumbo-jumbo. Like something that lives in UN rooms with people who've never had their ancestral sites bulldozed.
But what if supporting UNDRIP was actually about the kind of person you want to be?
UNDRIP people are the ones who knock before entering your room. Who ask "Is this okay?" before posting your photo. Who remember you hate mushrooms and actually care why. They're comfortable with complexity because they value relationships over convenience.
Colonial Law people show up to your party uninvited, rearrange your furniture, then get offended when you ask what they're doing. They prefer simple solutions even when they create complicated problems for everyone else.
Which one sounds like you?
Where the Pedal Meets Your Values
Dr. Vaka'uta was right about focusing on implementation: Where the pedal meets the wave. But implementation isn't just about policy mechanics.
It's about people looking in the mirror and deciding: "Am I the kind of person who asks before taking? Or am I the kind who assumes I know better?"
Those Mac vs PC ads worked because they made technology choice a reflection of personal identity. You weren't just buying a computer. You were declaring who you were. Full disclosure: I was worshipping at the Mac altar long long before the ads.
This is what happens when you live in UN corridors and policy meetings. Even buying a pencil on your day off, your brain makes these connections.
But maybe that restless brain is onto something. Maybe the reason I can't stop thinking about "where the pedal meets the wave" is because we've been framing human rights and Indigenous rights all wrong.
We talk about UNDRIP like it's a legal framework Indigenous Peoples need.
What if it's actually about the kind of society everyone else wants to live in?
Here's your 10-minute reality check:
Think about the last time someone made a big decision that affected you without asking your opinion. How did that feel?
Now imagine that happening to your family for 500 years. With your land, your kids' education, your sacred places, your economic opportunities.
If that sounds awful → you're already a UNDRIP person, you just didn't know it had a name.
If that sounds like "just how the world works" → you might want to ask yourself what kind of world you're actually building.
The Identity Politics We're Not Having
Every time a government highlights the UNDRIP then ignores it, they're not just failing Indigenous Peoples.
They're telling their own citizens: "We're the kind of country that makes promises we don't keep. We're the kind of people who prefer comfortable lies over complicated truths."
Is that the national identity you want?
Because right now, most States are stuck being the PC guy in the suit, again, bureaucratic, complicated, defensive about outdated systems that nobody actually likes.
UNDRIP offers the Mac alternative: Streamlined, human-centered, actually designed for how people want to live.
Before You Go
Standing in Grand Central on my supposed day off, still processing policy insights while buying office supplies, I realized something.
Those Mac ads didn't just sell computers. They sold identity. They made people say: "I want to be the kind of person who chooses the elegant solution."
We need the same energy for Indigenous rights.
Not "Indigenous Peoples need UNDRIP protection."
But "What kind of person do you want to be? What kind of world do you want to live in?"
Because choosing UNDRIP over Colonial Law isn't just about policy.
It's about who you are when nobody's watching.
See you next week!