How Division Serves the Few

In today’s political landscape, outrage has become a currency.

Every headline, every viral clip, and every impassioned post is designed to stoke our emotions, divide us into camps, and keep us distracted.

Both the political left and right use outrage as a tool, weaponizing shock, anger, and moral grandstanding not necessarily to create solutions, but to create attention.

The consequences of this cycle are far-reaching. Ordinary people become locked in endless debates, vilifying one another over ideological differences. Communities fracture, families split, and friendships dissolve. All the while, the people who benefit most from this orchestrated conflict—the wealthy elites, corporate interests, and career politicians—continue to consolidate their power, accumulate wealth, and evade accountability. The spectacle of outrage distracts from systemic problems like economic inequality, environmental collapse, and the erosion of civil liberties.

It is important to clarify: rejecting performative outrage does not mean we must ignore real harm.

There are individuals whose actions and words perpetuate suffering, injustice, and violence. We do not have to agree with them, endorse their views, or minimize the damage they cause. Accountability matters. But rejecting someone’s actions is very different from celebrating when harm or violence is enacted upon them.

When we cheer for violence against those we oppose, we slip into the very cycle we claim to resist.

Violence—whether physical, verbal, or digital—does not heal communities; it deepens divides. It gives fuel to the very forces that profit from our polarization.

It erodes our shared humanity.

To move forward, we must step outside the theater of performative outrage. This requires practicing discernment, recognizing when outrage is genuine and necessary, and when it is manufactured for clicks, votes, or ratings.

It requires cultivating the courage to hold multiple truths at once: we can condemn harmful words and actions without dehumanizing the people behind them, and we can demand justice without feeding cycles of vengeance.

The wealthy and powerful thrive when we are distracted and divided.

Real change begins when ordinary people refuse to play their game. When we focus instead on building solidarity, listening across differences, and redirecting our energy toward solutions that uplift the many rather than serving the few.

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