Reflections At The Close Of The Year
2025 was a difficult year, or so we are told. Yes, there were great personal tragedies for many of us, myself included. Many lead lives of physical or financial desperation. We are told that this is the fault of someone else, the rich or immigrants or the deep state or MAGA conservatives or some other oppressive force. It’s always someone besides ourselves who is to blame for our distress. We are told that victimhood is noble, that it confers upon us righteousness, or at least the right to righteous indignation. And that righteous indignation, that sense of outrage is all around us. Angry voices shouting from both sides about rights, about existential threats, about good vs evil.
Good vs Evil. It’s always easy to be outraged if you label those who disagree with you as evil. Some likely are. Some may have the very evil motives you attribute to them. But most simply see the world differently. They have honest, heartfelt beliefs that you may find abhorrent, or at least unacceptable.
What to do? You’re morally required to do something, right? But are you. Consider: does this injustice affect you or those close to you in a material way? Are you responsible for the injustice, is it something you have done or failed to do? Does correction of the injustice fall under your control, is it part of your job to correct it? If you can accurately answer yes to all or most of these questions, then yes, you are obligated. Otherwise, your outrage is a reflection of your own indignation at your perceived victimhood.
It’s wonderful to value other people to the point that you care about their situations and their pain. But outrage without action is self-indulgence. If the object of your outrage is beyond your control or your responsibility, then why waste the energy and the emotion? This is something I struggle with as well. Sometimes it just feels so good to be outraged. And if the object of your outrage is beyond your control, so much better. It’s safe to just vent and not face the hard work of changing either yourself or the problem.
In the coming year, I will try to ask the three questions when confronted with outrage. Does this affect me or mine? Is it under my control? Do I have the power to change it? If the answers to any or all of these questions is no, then I must change my response.
Otherwise, outrage is self-indulgence.
