I can find no better word to describe the last month, the last year, and arguably the last decade than the word outrage. Outrage over immigration, outrage over perceived abuse of the safety net, outrage over human rights, outrage over an “enemy.” We have all silently become part of the outrage machine and, true to the style of this generation, we have done so in the most performative way possible.
It’s as if there is a standard operating procedure for students at Penn when it comes to outrage.
First, some major news piece published by the New York Times or The Washington Post slides into our inboxes. Then, the student body goes ballistic decrying the administration for being fascists on their Instagram stories, waving their fists in fits of rage. Finally, they congratulate themselves on a job well done, forgetting all about it with no substantial action being taken.
It’s all very elementary. We get mad, we vent, and we forget. We have signaled that we are good, upstanding citizens who will fight for what is right. Our job is done and we can rest easy knowing we have let society know where we stand. It is performative activism in its purest state. No action, just a show.
In the aftermath of the shooting of Alex Pretti by an ICE official, I was deeply troubled by the conduct of those around me. Many were insisting the country had descended into fascism and were circulating lists online of Democrats they believed should face primary challenges for their support of ICE. These were the same people who took aim at the Trump administration over mass deportations, the same people who blasted Biden on Gaza. But these were also the same people who could not name a single elected official in the entire state of Pennsylvania nor their home state; the same people who said they were too lazy to call on their elected representatives to vote a certain way, the same people who, when asked if they wanted to go out and help register others to vote last summer, said no because it was too hot outside.
Unlike many countries in the world, the United States outlines freedom of expression, freedom to peacefully assemble, and freedom to petition the government in the First Amendment. So it begs the question, if these people are so enraged by what was going on right now, why haven’t any of them done anything about it? Why have they remained couch commanders directing plays from the comfort of their air-conditioned rooms? The answer: because it’s easier that way.
President John F. Kennedy, in a speech at Rice University, once said, “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard,” and he was right. Caring about politics is not an easy thing to do. You have to research the issues, you have to go out into the blazing heat and frigid cold to back up your causes, and you have to persevere when things don’t go your way. That is why society confers so much respect for those who actually walk the walk. These people truly put their lives on pause and take the time to see through the change they want. They become the change they want to see.
To be clear, posting about politics on social media may have its merits, such as increasing visibility, but it does not absolve one from the responsibility to act beyond the screen, nor does it earn moral authority or substitute for real participation. What is wrong is not the inaction but the attempts to position oneself as morally superior and therefore capable of judging others simply because a social media post was shared with the world. We as a society and as a community have a responsibility to treat political outrage as a starting point, not a proxy for authentic involvement. If we are going to speak with moral force, then we owe it to ourselves, and to those actually affected by the issues we claim to care about, to back that speech with action.
That means learning the basic mechanics of the system we claim is broken. It means knowing who represents us, calling them, pressuring them, and holding them accountable even when it is boring, uncomfortable, or inconvenient. It means registering voters, canvassing, organizing, and showing up. Outrage without follow-through is not activism; it is just moral posturing. If we truly believe the stakes are as high as we say they are, then we must be willing to act accordingly. Not performing, not posturing, not forgetting once the moment passes — but persisting. We can do better. We must do better.
EDEN LIU is a College Sophomore studying philosophy, politics, and economics from Taipei, Taiwan. His email is edenliu@sas.upenn.edu.
