What Determines What We Get Outraged By?
Oppression. Racism. Colonisation. War. Violence. Death. The world since the start of time has been riddled with conflict and death, every day people suffer unfair consequences to their lives for no reason other than the bad luck of where they are born. So how is it decided what people should get most outraged by and is it based on rational logic?
Selective outrage is the concept that people focus on certain issues whilst ignoring others that are just as important if not more. We can see this in abundance across so many aspects of life including politics and media coverage. It is evident to me that selective outrage is a problem that has engulfed the west.
Violence and death is where we regularly see selective outrage. When an incident occurs centred on violence, the outrage will often go to whoever is seen as the most disadvantaged. Cultural nuisances, historical understanding, rational judgement, weighing up all the angles, deep understanding of the conflict and many other factors are not considered when deciding the levels of outrage. Instead, the ability to heighten tensions by creating a narrative of systemic and historic oppression becomes the prerogative. This is then supported by a mass following of people of similar race or religion and other people who feel their race or religion has contributed to the historic years of oppression. Black…
