Miho Soon says that he "grew up in the intersection of class change between Malaysia and China, reflecting what some would call ‘new money.’"

"The celebration of rags to riches," he says, "scarcity to abundance, is central to this weighty, judgmental term. And yet, it has been evident to me that the behaviors and beliefs around me about our place in the economy are still shaped by a kind of survivalism, carrying invisible stories and lessons from when my great-grandparents fled civil conflict and poverty in China to Southeast Asia. This manifests in things such as wealth accumulation, addiction, abuse — and, most importantly, a deep belief system around what it takes to build a better life. We celebrate economic growth — we are told it is the key to our liberation. But is it?"

Today he works to explores how economic, financial, work, and technological systems impact our wellbeing through the lens of trauma psychology. His observations that everyday mechanisms keep us stuck in cycles of survivalism, and his probing of what we can do to create deeper resilience is elucidating. 

DOCUMENTARY PODCAST SERIES: Money Trauma: Transforming Trauma in Capitalism

ESSAY: Decoupling ‘The Good Life’ from Capitalism