Consistency, Outrage, and Looking in the Mirror
Political conversations these days are full of dramatic language — “tyranny,” “censorship,” “authoritarianism,” “No Kings.” On their own, these concerns matter. A healthy society should question power. But the problem is how selectively people apply them. Outrage gets loud only when it helps someone’s side score points. When the same behavior comes from their own camp, suddenly it’s justified, minimized, or ignored. That inconsistency kills credibility and fuels the polarization everyone claims to hate.
The Fog of Loyalty
During COVID, we saw lockdowns, speech restrictions, and families forced to say goodbye over FaceTime. Many of the same people now screaming about “government overreach” supported those measures or stayed silent when they happened. That doesn’t make them evil — it makes them human. Loyalty to your group blurs memory, softens critique, and gives your side a pass. But when loyalty distorts truth, people stop thinking clearly and start reacting emotionally.
What the Stoics Got Right
Epictetus had a harsh but honest take on this dynamic:
“It is the act of an ill-instructed man to blame others for his own bad condition; he who begins to learn blames himself; he who is well instructed neither blames others nor himself.”
The Stoic challenge isn’t about pretending bad behavior doesn’t exist. It’s about refusing to get dragged into tribal reflexes. Instead of looking outward for villains, Stoicism redirects us inward: How am I participating in the chaos? Where am I being inconsistent? Where am I demanding something from others that I won’t hold myself to?
Principle vs. Power
If outrage only shows up when the “other side” does something wrong, it’s not principle — it’s power. And nothing corrodes trust faster. We can disagree about solutions, values, or leadership. But hypocrisy is what pushes people away. When someone defends or attacks behavior based solely on who benefits, they lose the moral ground they think they’re standing on.
Control the Only Thing You Can Control
Epictetus also said:
“Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it.”
Anyone can point at corruption, incompetence, and abuse of power. The harder work is consistency. It’s easier to call out hypocrisy than to stop participating in it. It’s easier to rant than to examine what’s driving the reaction.
In a culture built on instant outrage, the real work is steadiness — choosing integrity when it would be easier to fall in line with the noise.
A Way Forward
This isn’t about defending one side or attacking another. It’s a call to stop using outrage as a weapon and start using it as information — a signal that something inside needs examination. If people truly believe in freedom, fairness, and accountability, they must hold everyone to the same standard, including their own leaders and their own group.
The Stoics aimed for clarity, not comfort. Applying their lens today means stepping outside the tribal script, tolerating discomfort, and telling the truth even when it cuts against your identity. That’s the beginning of real courage — and a way out of the partisan circus that keeps everyone stuck.
