United We Scroll, Divided We Rage

“When you trust your television, what you get is what you got; ’cause when they own the information, oh, they can bend it all they want.”

—John Mayer, "Waiting on the World to Change"

That song was/is a Millennial anthem. It came out in 2006 when I was old enough to feel cynical and think “yeah, right,” but young enough to still hang on to the naïve hope that maybe, just maybe, the world would change anyway.

But here we are, nearly twenty years later, and we’re still waiting. Meanwhile, the ironic detachment my generation became famous for has become full-blown shouting matches.

The generations still waiting for their turn to lead are shouting into the void, while the ones still in charge keep controlling the narrative.

And we're all fighting amongst ourselves.

Just like they want us to.

Ya’ll, I am tired.
I’m working, raising a family, building a business, writing a miniseries I plan to sell, and fighting battles that I haven't even written about yet.

In addition, both my coffee machines died (again) in the same month (again) because, apparently, I’m cursed.
Also, I'll never buy a Keurig again. I mean it this time.

I can’t even zone out and scroll Marvel topics without someone making it political. Call it the daily attrition of creativity.

I feel that moment Wanda Sykes’ Ruby had in Monster-in-Law:

“I am sick! I am sick, sick, sick of your shit! And when I'm not sick, I'm tired! I am sick and tired!

Every freaking day, it’s a new fight, a new boycott, a new “what about.”
I'm not a political commentator or a poli-sci expert. I'm just a citizen and a consumer who notices things.

That being said, the hypocrisy out here is next-level:

• People smugly cheer Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension but rage about censorship when it happens to ‘one of theirs’.  
• People selectively boycott Disney or Target on Monday, but then spend their money there in solidarity on Tuesday.
• People hold Tesla up as "the enlightened one's choice" and then torch them when they disagree with their creator.
• People burn down cities over one controversial death while gleefully celebrating another.

Here’s where it gets even worse. It wasn’t enough that Charlie Kirk was murdered. Now there are calls for death to his family, his wife, his babies. Because of words.

Or is it really about words?

Erika Kirk’s grief has been questioned and mocked, her forgiveness of her husband's alleged killer pantomimed on TikTok for likes and attention.

Others are still celebrating and laughing at her husband's murder. I find it even more disturbing that many of those accounts belong to people in healthcare and education, professions built on healing and guidance.

I don't like what they say at all, but they have the right to say things I don't like.

But deep down, I don't give two shits what they say anyway (says my GenX detachment).

We can't control what other people say or do.
We can only control our reactions to them.

So I choose to focus on what I can do.
What I can do is focus on what's good and what's actually important.
What I can do is write about it.

And above all, what I will do is teach the young ones in my family to question, to think critically, and not take every word at face value.

If you’re nodding along, you’ll want to stick around. Subscribe here (it's free!) to get more essays like this in your inbox every Thursday.

The most recent debate is whether “both sides are responsible” for this culture of division. As unpopular as it is for me to say, I can see why people say that.

Democrats lob word grenades like “fascist”, “Nazi”, “Hitler”, "phobic"
Republicans fire back with “communist”, “traitor”, "hateful", "radical"

Intent, perception, and narrative control form this 'unholy trinity' that makes unstable randos believe they've been assigned a mission.

And our algorithms make it worse. One person might see more of the left’s extremes, and someone else's feed will lean the other way.

That’s how you end up convinced that only "their side" is guilty.

Extremists exist across the spectrum, and when someone unhinged decides to turn rhetoric into reality, it doesn’t matter which "side" they're on; the damage is still devastating.

This past Sunday, I sat and watched the Kirk memorial, already on edge and particularly irritated that I had to change three different stations before finding one that just showed the service instead of cutting away for their own interests.

I couldn’t believe they were cutting off speeches from friends and loved ones to cut to a random interview or interrupting music and worship to gab amongst themselves.

We didn’t tune in for you; we tuned in for literally everything but you.
Shaddup, already.

While there were grief-fueled words of anger, there were more calls for peace and unity. Erika Kirk’s words were God-honoring and drenched in both grief and hope.

She publicly forgave the man who allegedly murdered her husband, and the stadium, and most of us watching at home, were in tears.

That moment of forgiveness was a profound moment; it was a golden opportunity, a ‘lighting of the beacons’ signaling a possible new chance to begin again. The hope was all but palpable.

And then Trump followed her.
Sigh.

Now, his speech had the bones of a good eulogy, but he couldn’t just leave it there. To me, it felt like it drifted into a Trump rally, with divisive words including “I hate my opponent”, the very opposite of what Erika had just modeled.

Some people thought it was hilarious, saying Charlie himself would’ve loved it. Others called it disrespectful and “too much.”

But that’s the thing, isn't it? We all heard the same words, yet came away with different takes. Confirmation bias is a hell of a thing.

For five solid hours, I had sat there, a mixed bag of emotions, trying to feel some sort of peace and understanding. But before he'd even finished speaking, I was off the couch and out of the room with one emotion: anger.

Because, to me, the truth was clear: division will always sell more than unity. The pretty words didn't matter.

They never did.

And then there are the celebrities. I truly don't care what they have to say about anything, but I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t change how I see them.

Pink, for example, has been encouraging followers to make Kirk conversations "awkward" and posting a vile “funeral idea” meme, really appalling stuff for a grown woman and a mother.

That being said, she absolutely has the right to say it. And I have every right to now see her as a hate-filled human being that I'm glad I don't give any money to.

Ain't America great?

Celebrities have always pushed politics, and they have the right to do so (and let's be real, there's usually money behind it).

But whatever. Good for you. Champion your cause, cash your check, and move on. Get that money.

Some of my favorite celebrities have endorsed candidates I don’t like or professed views I don't agree with, but it doesn’t ruin my love or support for their work. I'll just think that they have an...interesting coughwrongcough opinion.

But if they cross into the truly vile or hateful, I'm out. coughPinkcough

As we all should know, free speech protects you from the government, but not from your boss.

The Jimmy Kimmel incident sparked the same split reactions as Trump's ban from social media years ago: half were over the moon happy, and the other half lost their minds.

I don’t watch Kimmel and don’t care what he says or who his guests are, mainly because I’m asleep long before he comes on.
Did I think Kimmel's remarks were stupid, tasteless, and not funny? Absolutely.

Do I care, though? Not really. (Honestly, ironic detachment might be my biggest flex through all this.)

Kimmel's known as a divisive figure who says some pretty out-of-pocket stuff on a good day. ABC's temporary suspension of Kimmel wasn't part of some free-speech conspiracy. It was business.

(But the FCC sniffing around because of it...not cool. Stay in your lane.)

Major affiliates were yanking the show, and advertisers were getting nervous. So, ABC read the emotional climate and made a business decision: they didn't want to lose more money, so they pulled it.

Just like if you act psychotic online and your employer thinks you're going to cost them money, you're probably getting fired. Actions have consequences.
That's life, dumbass.

What I noticed is how quickly big-name celebrities came out in their support for Kimmel, yet stayed quiet about a man losing his life for the very same principles they claim to defend.

That being said, I get how Hollywood works. I adore movies, I know the artistry, but I’m not naïve about the power players or how many names have their livelihoods on the line to risk breaking their silence.

I'm well aware of the “go along to get along” culture.

Even Starbucks got dragged into the perpetual outrage machine over the“Mint Majesty with two honeys” orders flooding in, the tea Kirk was always sipping during debates.

Some cups were labeled “don’t lose your voice” or “for Charlie,” while others were labeled "loser." No idea which were real and which were ragebait.
Gotta get those clicks.

Meanwhile, I just want to look up Avengers: Doomsday news without feeling like I’m shirking some sort of civic duty by not declaring allegiance to a tribe.

For the record, my allegiances are to God, my family, and Team Iron Man. In that order.

Not everyone is going to mourn Charlie Kirk. Not everyone mourned Princess Diana either (shocking, I know).

But why do we even care who does or doesn’t advocate for someone, or mourn over someone? Why do we want it, even try to demand it, from others?

Is it truly about 'the right thing to do', or is it just about validation?

When Kimmel returned to late-night, he said:
"It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man," and finished with: "Erika Kirk forgave the man who shot her husband. She forgave him. That is an example we should follow. If you believe in the teachings of Jesus as I do, there it was... It touched me deeply, and I hope it touches many, and if there’s anything we should take from this tragedy to carry forward, I hope it can be that and not this."

I don’t know that man from Adam, but I'm pretty sure that's as close to an apology as anyone can hope for. As for me, I believe him, and I respect the effort.

However, many people refuse to accept it. Not because they’re bad people (they're not), but because in this climate, no apology is ever good enough.

But I get it. Grief is a brutal beast, and it lashes out wherever it can.

But Erika set the example that Sunday and chose forgiveness. As a Christian, I believe that's what we're called to do: forgive and let Him be the ultimate judge, not us.

But forgiveness can be complicated, sometimes seemingly impossible. It comes at a cost to the wounded and requires giving up the upper hand.

It means setting your ego aside, foregoing the satisfaction of having a legit grudge, and choosing grace when you are aching for payback with every fiber of your being.

And nobody wants to be the first one to do it.
I don't fault anyone for not being there yet.
Truth is, I'm not fully there yet either.

Unfinished business, right?

And that's why we keep waiting on the world to change.
But the world doesn’t want to change; it wants power, control...validation.

Validation almost always creates a villain. Because to be right, to feel righteous, someone else has to be wrong.

People don’t want words; they want proof you’re just like them. Without that, the words don’t matter, and they never did.

No speech will ever be safe enough, and no apology will ever just be enough.

And the leaders on both sides know it. The fight isn’t over the meaning of words like "fascist" or "radical"; it’s over who gets to win.

I'm fully aware this sounds pretty damn obvious, but it shouldn’t take murders and boycotts to remind us of something this fundamental.

So it’s not about words at all.
It never was.
It never will be.

Related Reading :

• The Silence Was a Choice - When saying nothing was worse than speaking.
• Enough - A no-filter look at hypocrisy, burnout, and the breaking point where you finally stop playing along.
• Sad Woman, Happy Coffee- Life might be chaos, but there’s always caffeine. A dark riff on exhaustion, small joys, and survival.
• Beautiful Lies - The daydreams I escaped into, and the reality I built from them. A story about resilience, perception, and why sometimes lies are the scaffolding for truth.

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Heather P. is an essayist and longtime ghostwriter publishing unapologetic stories about trauma, reinvention, and the absurdity of real life.

Creator of Unfinished Business, a platform reaching readers in over 20 countries for its dark humor, emotional precision, and refusal of performative healing, whether the story is about grief, growth, or just getting through Tuesday.