I don't want to be a leader

People grow up in specific historical moments that colour the way their caregivers approach raising a child—that affect the kinds of experiences they're given. I grew up in the historic moment of participation trophies. I may have also grown up in a historic moment of "leadership." There was this persistent notion throughout my early childhood that everyone needed to be a leader. I was being drowned in programs that promised to teach me how to lead. Looking back on it this feels pretty silly because not everyone can be a leader. That's not how hierarchical societies work. Maybe a better society wouldn't have leaders at all—one in which people made decisions collectively, but despite what the National Post will tell you, my elementary school teachers weren't trying to raise anarcho-communists. They were explicitly trying to raise "leaders." I live in British Columbia, and in the winter I like to go skiing. It's probably my most bougie hobby. When I lived on the east coast, skiing was…