As Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan takes extraordinary steps to consolidate power and to crush dissent within his country. Here in the United States, Oklahoma City Thunder star and Turkish native Enes Kanter has been unafraid to speak out against the undermining of democratic institutions within his home country. His basketball stardom has afforded Kanter a platform most Turks don’t have, giving his criticism of the Turkish government more weight. That’s too much for a strongman like Erdogan to take. So the Turkish government tried to silence Kanter just this past weekend once and for all, and now the basketball star is opening up about the oppression he and other Turks face with Erdogan in power.
The harassment of Kanter came to a head on his latest trip abroad. With his NBA season over, Kanter has been traveling around the world, hosting basketball camps with his foundation. When he was in Indonesia, Kanter’s manager knocked on his hotel room door in the middle of the night and said they needed to talk. “He told me ‘the Turkish government has called Indonesia and told them Enes Kanter is a dangerous man,’” Kanter says. The army and secret service were going to shut down his camp, and they needed to get out of the country.
They fled to Romania, the site of his next scheduled event, on the earliest flight they could board. But as he tried to enter Romania, he found the Turkish government had revoked his passport. He worried that he would deported back to Turkey and jailed by Erdogan. While Romanian police detained him, he filmed a video for Twitter to let the world know what was happening.
To understand Kanter’s objections to Erdogan, it helps to have a little background. Erdogan efforts to change Turkey from a parliamentary democracy into to a country with a strong executive have been successful. It has been part of a decades-long quest for power. In 1994, when he was elected mayor of Istanbul, he started banning alcohol sales in cafés as part of his effort to turn secular Turkey into an Islamic-dominant country. In the 2000s he founded a party that would eventually win a majority of seats in Parliament and make him prime minister. He rose to president and just as corruption investigations seemed poised to bring him down; he was able to deflect blame and quash the inquest. Since then he has been cracking down on dissent. And with his country in turmoil, last year a failed military coup gave him the political capital to seize more power. He had people fired from their jobs, jailed people deemed as coup sympathizers, and became the world’s leader of jailing journalists.
The frightening reach of Erdogan’s autocratic ways were felt in America last week. He came to the States to be welcomed by friend of dictators, President Donald Trump. While he was in Washington, D.C., Kurdish immigrants protested the Turkish embassy. What happened next was truly disturbing.
The bodyguards who beat the protestors in full view of Erdogan left the country without consequence. In fact, when they returned, the Turkish government demanded an apology from the United States for interfering with Erdogan’s security detail.
It’s behavior like this from Erdogan and his lackeys that has Kanter speaking out that nearly cost him his freedom this weekend, but this wasn’t the beginning of the harassment. It started with him being left off the Turkish national team, despite being their best player, and has evolved into his inability to visit Turkey for fear of being arrested or killed. And to protect family and friends back home and in order to keep Erdogan from jailing them, he’s had to cut off all communications. Those family members still face harassment in Turkey. (His dad has been spit on at the supermarket for having a son who questions Erdogan.)
With some help from the United States, Kanter was able to leave Romania for London and then return to New York to avoid detention by Turkish authorities. Yet, it will be a while before life will be back to normal for him or his country.
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Time to declutter
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21 products that are gaslighting us into thinking they’re essential when they’re not
Some things in life are actually necessary—clean water, decent healthcare, basic human decency. But then there are the things that feel like they’re gaslighting us. The things we’re told we can’t live without, even though we survived just fine before they existed. Things like "smart" fridges, lawn fertilizer services, and yes—whole body deodorant.
Recently, our sister-site Upworthy asked their Facebook audience the question: What's a product or service that feels like it's gaslighting all of us into thinking it's necessary? More than 8,000 responses poured in. The answers were passionate, funny, and surprisingly unified.
Here are 21 products, services, and systems people called out for pretending to be essential—when they might actually be optional, overpriced, or flat-out invented.
1. Whole body deodorant
"Take a shower," said Shannon H.
“How did we ever manage all those years without it!! 😂😵💫” added Karen R.
Others noted it may help people with medical conditions—but for the average person, it's definitely a marketing creation.
2. Health insurance
It topped the list. Erica L. explained: “My doctor prescribes, the pharmacist issues meds, nurses care for people, surgeons do surgery—Health Insurance stands between health care and patients and says no, exclusively on whether they think it’s financially effective to treat you.”
Important note: Health insurance can provide life-saving access for many—but what people are frustrated by here is the profit-first system, not care itself.
3. The wedding industry
Multiple people slammed the high cost of modern weddings.
JoElla B. put it plainly: “We spend too much time and money planning one day, and not enough thought on how to blend two lives in a mutually beneficial one.”
Others called out expensive dresses, venues, and pressure to perform for social media.
4. Bottled water
Carole D. said: “Water in plastic bottles! Get a cup!”
While bottled water has value in emergencies, it’s often just filtered tap water—sold for profit in plastic.
5. Baby product overload
“Most baby products,” wrote Kelli O. “They really aren’t as needy and complicated as companies want us to think.”
6. Fabric softener
“It’s bad for clothes, bad for the Earth, bad for the wallet, and totally unnecessary,” said Gail H.
Some experts agree—many softeners contain chemicals that can reduce fabric lifespan and irritate skin.
7. Smart appliances
“Adding ‘phone controls’ to every appliance instead of making them last as long as they used to,” wrote Sherry S.
When your fridge needs a software update, something’s gone off the rails.
8. Makeup and anti-aging products
“Anything anti-aging,” said Melissa T., “Please just let me age into the gargoyle I was meant to become.”
Others questioned products designed to “fix” eyelashes, eyebrows, pores, and graying hair.
April S. added, “Products that women are convinced they MUST have in order to be ‘beautiful’ and therefore ‘loved.’”
9. Cosmetic surgery
Ron P. called out the industry as a whole. And while body autonomy matters, many commenters questioned whether insecurities are being commodified and sold back to us.
10. Ticketmaster and “convenience fees”
“Let’s go back to waiting in line at a record store,” wrote Nicole C.
Zaida B. added: “Convenience fee for online purchases—then charging $10 more at the actual event.”
11. Engagement rings
James P. didn’t mince words: “Engagement rings.”
The diamond industry has long been criticized for manufactured scarcity and marketing-fueled necessity.
12. Lawn chemicals and services
“Plant native grasses and you don’t have the pests or need for constant watering,” wrote Jamie B.
Environmental groups have raised similar concerns over runoff and unnecessary pesticide use.
13. AI and generative tech
“This stuff squeezes the lifeblood and individuality out of the human experience,” said Teresa L.
Saskia D. and others echoed skepticism about its necessity, even as many of us are being pushed to use it.
14. Funeral services
Amy W. shared: “My parents both have already paid to have themselves cremated and are very adamant that they do not want anything big done for them. In their words, ‘I won’t care, I’m dead.’”
Of course, some families find comfort in tradition—but the cost and pressure can feel overwhelming and predatory.
15. Rinse and repeat
Amy D. nailed it: “It’s just to sell more. Not even sure you need it at all.”
16. Credit Card Surcharges
Shawn S. took aim at the extra fees popping up at checkout: “That is the cost of doing business and shouldn’t be the burden of the purchaser.”
Many questioned why customers are increasingly being asked to pay extra simply for the convenience of using a card.
17. Constant phone upgrades
“Apple are notorious for releasing the same shit every year,” said Steph S.
Diana H. added, “Needing to upgrade our phones so frequently.”
Built-in obsolescence and marketing cycles drive most of the demand.
18. Vitamins and supplements
“If I took every supplement they say I NEED I wouldn’t need food. Nor could I afford it,” said Tausha L.
19. Fake pockets on women’s pants
Jessica W. said, “I have to buy men’s pants for work because women’s pants would just get torn up too fast!”
Form over function, and then they charge more for it.
20. Disposable everything
“The ‘convenience’ of disposable everything,” said Rick R.
It’s killing the planet—and draining wallets.
21. Tipping
“I’m sick of supplementing for corporations that refuse to pay a living wage,” wrote Susan V.
Tipping culture has evolved into something far removed from its original intent, and for many, it now feels like a burden shifted onto the customer.
The bigger picture
People aren’t saying all these things should vanish tomorrow. But when we start seeing convenience sold as necessity, and insecurity turned into billion-dollar markets, it's worth asking: who benefits from all of this?
And more importantly—who pays?
This article originally appeared earlier this year.