The Cure for Outrage isn’t More Outrage.

Outrage is not just emotional fuel in our politics. With social media, it’s an industry. Amanda Ripley calls its main actors “conflict entrepreneurs,” those who profit from grievance, fear, and division. Algorithms act as accelerants, rewarding what triggers our anger and drives us further apart, some into dark places. The result is a cycle that corrodes trust and, tragically, fuels violence. 

I have seen another way. And it’s happening quietly on campuses across the country. Through Unify America’s Civic Gym, thousands of students are being paired with peers who often come from very different regions, backgrounds, and political identities. In these conversations, there are no outrage merchants. Instead, I see students practicing the skills we need for a healthy, pluralistic democracy: listening, sharing perspectives, disagreeing respectfully, and often discovering what they hold in common.

It doesn’t trend. It doesn’t go viral. But I have watched it build the civic muscles we desperately need. And it’s giving the next generation another way forward.

If you need a shot of hope, I invite you to take a minute and watch the short video below of students talking about their experiences inside the Civic Gym.

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