Fake Outrage Dealing with Criticism

Fake Outrage Dealing with Criticism There are times when Outrage is an appropriate reaction to current events. The Twin Towers,  cheating spouses, and violent  crimesâ€"all injustices, all valid reasons for momentary  rage. Most of the time, however, our Outrage is unwarranted: we shouldnt be offendedâ€"but we are. This is especially true within the context of todays Internet culture. Social media has become a breeding ground for armchair criticism, faux discontent, and passive-aggressive disappointment, a place in which we attempt to (paradoxically) decree our building tallest by ridiculing every nearby structure. And so there we sit, glued to our keyboards and glowing terminals, stewing in a disturbing  mixture of anger and  schadenfreude, as we scroll through the endless stream, waiting for the next politically incorrect gaffe  to ignite our flame of fake indignation. Rarely is a meaningful discussion even attempted. (Just take one look at the comments on any popular YouTube video.) Within recent years, the Outrage has amped up considerably, making room for  endless commentary on banal pop-culture happenings: the perils of Deflategate, a former Olympians new pronoun, Anthony Weiners wienerâ€"not to mention a dozen new presidential candidates who have entered a race in which the main qualification seems to be Outrage for  whatever is said by their opponentsâ€"all of which have incited tantrums  from both sides of each issue. But who gives a fuck? Well, sadly, the answers seems to be everybody! Because everyone has the tools to be an amateur critic, there are scores of trolls waiting to disgorge their opposing viewpoint. Even your authorsâ€"The Minimalistsâ€"arent immune to the wrath of the fuming masses. A topic as seemingly innocuous as minimalism somehow infuriates hundreds, if not thousands, of  noisy keyboard mercenaries. Without good reason, the self-righteous are  offended by that which doesnt really affect them (organized hoarding, blue humor, and naughty words are particularly ripe topics); and because theyve decided that someone elses lifestyle is somehow an affront to their own, they reflexively spout their gibberish in an attempt to justify a viewpoint that nobody asked them to justify in the first place. Weve all done this at some point: weve all gotten offended without asking ourselves why and then used our fake Outrage to cast judgment upon others.  We do thisâ€"we  judge peopleâ€"because it helps  us feel better, and pretending to be offended is much easier than attempting to breach the walls of introspection. But this good feeling is fleeting, of course, and so we judge more and more in an attempt to give grounds for our initial judgment, all the while increasing  our dose of Outrage. Its an ugly downward spiral, and from a spectators distanceâ€"standing  far  from  the backlog of comments and posts and @repliesâ€"the enraged  look like fools, because, when we step away and observe, we soon realize that this kind of judgment says more about the judge than the judged. After all,  judgment is but a mirror reflecting the insecurities of the person whos doing the judging. True, we all judge, but it is best to do so with reason, respect, and empathy, rather than the rage, resentment, and disdain that have suffused our everyday lives. But the truth is that, for the vast majority of us, most Outrage-inducing events are irrelevant, and thus the Outrage itself is a waste of time. Few people are affected  by deflated footballs or transgender celebrities,  and yet we act as if these events directly shape our livesâ€"we judge, we throw in our (unsolicited) two centsâ€"and then feel a particular kind of emptiness when the dust clears and all that remains is a heap of hurt feelings. Allowing others to offend us is naturalâ€"a default settingâ€"but it is also unnecessary. An offended man or woman is a defenseless man or woman. But it doesnt have to be this wayâ€"at least not on an individual level. We can choose not to be offended. So Stop it. Let it go. Change  the channel. Turn it off. Unsubscribe. Unfriend. Unfollow. Mute. Block. Walk away. Breathe. Outrage is a fools errand, and unless youre a fool,  you  neednt carry the weight  of another persons burden. Let the fools  do their own heavy lifting. Perhaps what we need is a reduced dose of Outrage and a higher dosage of Letting Go. You see, letting go of Outrage is not the same as embracing Apathyâ€"Outrage and Apathy are obverse sides of the same coin. By refusing to be  offended by lifes  minutia, we refuse to step into Outrages blast radius, and thus we refuse to cast judgment arbitrarily. Ultimately, avoiding the Outrage is how we can approach controversial and interesting topics with honest, worthwhile discussions. Even when an occasion  warrants Outrageâ€"murder, racism, game six of the NBA finalsâ€"what we do with our ire  is a different story. Just because our emotions are justified, that doesnt mean were required to  acquiesce. Rarely does acting out of rageâ€"justified or notâ€"lead to a desirable outcome. Besides, the only person who has the right to worry about deflating Tom Bradys balls is Gisele Bundchen. (And if that joke offends you, then please go back to the top and read this essay again.) Subscribe to The Minimalists via email.