In an era of performative outrage and imported conflicts, Australia’s strength lies in its centre: Here’s how we hold our nerve, reclaim our agency and progress.
By Sue Barrett
Every solution begins with a conversation
But right now, it feels like we’re drowning in noise instead of engaging in dialogue. The question is: who are we letting near our minds?
It’s easy to feel adrift. Every time you open a screen, you’re hit with a barrage. The assassination of far-right commentator Charlie Kirk this week provides a devastating case study in how quickly the noise machine operates and how dangerous it becomes when we abandon careful thinking for tribal instincts. We see devastating headlines that pull you into cycles of despair and outrage, designed to leave us feeling powerless to create meaningful change.
This is the sound of the modern world: relentless static designed to make us feel surrounded, helpless, and convinced that everything is regressing into chaos. The architects of this noise – far-right provocateurs, rage-farming media personalities, extremist political movements, and the algorithms that amplify division for profit – want you to believe the main game is their manufactured culture war or intractable global conflict. These purveyors of division want you to lose your nerve and abandon the slow, patient work of building better systems.
Remember: we have a choice about who we let near our minds.
The Kirk assassination reveals something profound: the noise generated by divisive media figures, political provocateurs, and profit-driven platforms isn’t just a distraction from progress; it’s actively dangerous to democracy itself. Now is not the time for despair; it is the time to hold our ground, understand the landscape, and reclaim our agency by focusing on what is real, what is working, and what requires our courage to build.
The Power of the Pause: Responding vs Reacting
The assassination of Charlie Kirk and its aftermath provide a perfect case study in what happens when humans react instead of respond, when we let the wrong voices near our minds.
Within hours of Kirk’s death at Utah Valley University, President Trump blamed the “radical left” for the assassination, claiming that “radical-left political violence” was responsible. The far-right ecosystem – conservative media personalities, extremist influencers, and rage-farming platforms – immediately amplified this narrative, with some calling it “war” and suggesting their supporters were justified in becoming radicalised in response.
But here’s what we must understand: this wasn’t pure reaction
Many of these figures knew exactly what they were doing. They deliberately exploited a tragedy to stir people up and create more division. They understood that most people would react emotionally to shocking news, and they manipulated that natural human response for political gain. While their audiences reacted with genuine anger and grief, the provocateurs calculatedly fanned those flames.
This is manipulation disguised as reaction – which is why we need to be especially careful about how we respond, with reason and calm even when we feel like screaming into the abyss of despair.
But when 22-year-old Tyler Robinson was arrested for the murder, the narrative collapsed entirely. Robinson was raised in a conservative Republican family in Utah, with a sheriff for a father. He had supported Trump in 2020, grew up around guns, and came from what neighbours described as “the stereotypical All-American white conservative family.” Far from being a “radical leftist,” Robinson was connected to far-right “Groyper” networks, alt-right, white nationalist groups who believed Kirk had “strayed too far from the original mission.”
The ultimate irony: the very people who had spent years calculatedly stoking division – far-right media figures, extremist political leaders, and inflammatory online personalities – who had deliberately created a culture where political opponents were dehumanised as enemies, found themselves confronted with the fact that their strategic rhetoric had helped radicalise someone from within their own movement.
Watch who you let near your mind
This tragedy shows what happens when we mistake calculated manipulation for genuine concern, when we let skilled provocateurs exploit our emotions, and when we allow immediate tribal loyalty to override careful examination of evidence.
The far-right’s response followed a predictable pattern – not of genuine reaction, but of calculated manipulation designed to exploit most people’s natural reactive tendencies:
- Deliberately Exploit Tragedy: Knowing that people would react emotionally to shocking news, conservative provocateurs and extremist influencers immediately weaponised the tragedy, pointing fingers at their usual targets before any evidence emerged.
- Manufacture False Martyrdom: Political extremists and divisive media figures strategically positioned Kirk as a victim of “leftist violence,” knowing this narrative would inflame their base while diverting attention from their own role in creating a culture of political violence.
- Refuse Accountability Through Deflection: When the truth emerged that the killer came from their own ranks, far-right personalities and extremist movements employed calculated deflection tactics – no apologies, no self-reflection, just skilled manipulation to maintain their victim narrative.
- Exploit Emotional Loyalty: Even when faced with evidence that their own rhetoric had helped radicalise the killer, rage-farming media personalities and political provocateurs deliberately exploited their audience’s emotional investment rather than responding honestly.
This response reveals something crucial: when we let skilled manipulators near our minds – extremist influencers, divisive politicians, and profit-driven algorithms – when we allow calculated provocateurs to exploit our natural reactive tendencies, we lose the ability to see clearly and respond wisely. These figures depend on our emotional reactions because our outrage serves their political and financial interests.
This tragedy illustrates why the practice of pausing, breathing, and responding thoughtfully is so essential for resisting manipulation and refocusing on the positive progress we are making.
The Unstoppable Current of Real Progress
While political extremists and divisive media personalities shout and blame, the real work continues. The scale and breadth of human progress happening right now dwarfs their manufactured outrage. Here are some examples we can celebrate:
Clean Energy Revolution:
- Renewables now cheaper than fossil fuels in 85% of the world
- Tesla’s Adelaide battery saved South Australia $150 million in two years
- Australian EV sales jumped 65% in 2024
- Solar installations hit record highs across 40+ countries
- Battery costs dropped 90% in the last decade
Generational Values Shift:
- 83% of Gen Z prioritise purpose over pay
- Mental health conversations normalised across workplaces
- Work-life balance becoming non-negotiable for younger workers
- Inclusive hiring practices spreading across industries
- Social justice integration into business strategy
Democratic Innovation Worldwide:
- Taiwan’s digital democracy platform engaging millions
- Estonia’s 100,000+ e-residents in borderless governance
- Porto Alegre’s $200 million in citizen-directed spending
- Ireland resolving decades-old conflicts through citizen assemblies
- Australia’s Community Independents winning on local issues over partisan politics
- Participatory budgeting in 3,000+ cities globally
Economic Transformation:
- Impact investing reaches $1.16 trillion globally
- B-Corps growing 20% annually in Australia
- Employee ownership models scaling (Arup: 18,000 staff, 140 offices)
- Cooperative businesses outperforming traditional corporations
- Purpose-driven companies showing superior long-term returns
Scientific and Medical Breakthroughs:
- CRISPR therapies curing genetic diseases
- AI accelerating drug discovery by 10x
- Cancer death rates dropping 30% since 1991
- Mental health treatments advancing rapidly
- Malaria deaths down 60% since 2000
Global Poverty and Education:
- Extreme poverty at historic lows (under 10% globally)
- Child mortality rates halved since 1990
- Literacy rates reaching 86% worldwide
- Internet access connecting 5+ billion people
- Educational opportunities expanding across developing nations
Environmental Progress:
- Ozone layer healing ahead of schedule
- Deforestation rates slowing in key regions
- Ocean plastic cleanup technologies scaling
- Rewilding projects restoring ecosystems globally
- Carbon capture innovations reaching commercial viability
This is what courageous collaboration looks like in practice. And it’s happening despite, not because of, the noise generated by extremist movements and profit-driven platforms.
Our Democratic Shield: Why Australia’s System Protects the Centre
The Kirk assassination also demonstrates something profound about our current moment. While far-right provocateurs and rage-farming media personalities rushed to blame their political enemies, the broader Australian public, protected by our democratic structures, largely resisted being drawn into the same tribal thinking. This is our strength, and it’s what we must protect.
As political analyst Kos Samaras has brilliantly articulated, our compulsory voting system is our anchor in the storm. He wrote in the Financial Review: “Our compulsory voting system, unique among major English-speaking democracies, creates a gravitational pull toward the centre… You cannot win by firing up 30 per cent of the population; you must speak to the disengaged, the moderate, and the undecided.”
This is profound. In countries with voluntary voting, politics becomes a game of “mobilise your base.” Parties can win by appealing only to their most extreme, most energised supporters, often amplified by divisive media personalities and rage-farming algorithms. This inevitably drags the entire political discourse to the fringes, creating the conditions for the kind of radicalisation we’ve seen in the US.
In Australia, leaders must appeal to the centre majority. They must speak to the suburban family concerned with mortgage rates and healthcare, not the imported culture wars promoted by extremist movements and provocative media figures. They must build broad coalitions through genuine dialogue. As Samaras notes, flirting with American-style fringe politics is a recipe for failure here because it “alienates the suburban families who decide elections.”
Our system forces politics back to the centre ground, where progress is made not through division, but through the kind of negotiation and consensus-building that requires emotional intelligence and ethical leadership.
This creates space for the brave to build better systems through patient, principled work. It protects us from the worst excesses of the politics that produced Kirk’s killer, and it makes it harder for extremist movements and divisive media personalities to gain mainstream traction.
From Helplessness to Hope: Reclaiming Your Agency Through Conversation
Charlie Kirk’s assassination and the immediate rush by far-right provocateurs and rage-farming media to blame everyone but themselves when the killer turned out to be one of their own reminds us that the work of building better systems through human connection is more urgent than ever.
Our agency lies not in trying to win the shouting match against extremist movements and divisive media personalities, but in strengthening the centre majority through the practices that actually change the world: human connection, ethical leadership, and courageous collaboration.
So what can we do?
- Take a Breath Before You React: When confronted with shocking news or provocative content from divisive media figures or political extremists, pause. Take two deep breaths. Ground yourself. Ask: “Who is trying to influence my thinking right now? What do they want me to feel? What evidence do I actually have? Are they exploiting my natural emotions for their gain?”
- Examine the Evidence: The Kirk assassination shows us what happens when we let skilled manipulators exploit our natural reactive tendencies. Wait for facts. Look for multiple sources. Be especially wary of rage-farming media personalities and political provocateurs who immediately try to weaponise tragedy to advance their agenda.
- Choose Your Response: After you’ve paused and examined the evidence, decide how to respond. Choose voices that encourage thoughtful analysis over emotional manipulation. Reject the calculated influence of extremist movements and divisive platforms. Watch who you let near your mind – especially those who profit from your outrage.
- Champion Accountability: Support leaders who can admit when they’re wrong, who can reflect on their role in creating toxic political cultures, who can change course when needed. This is what real leadership looks like, and it’s the opposite of what we saw from far-right figures and rage-farming media in the aftermath of Kirk’s death – calculated deflection rather than honest reflection.
- Focus Locally, Connect Deeply: Turn down the volume on the national outrage cycle promoted by divisive media and political extremists, and turn up your engagement in your community. Coach the local footy team with empathy and inclusion. Model respectful dialogue. Support local businesses that embody your values. Tangible, local progress through human relationships is the most powerful antidote to the helplessness promoted by skilled manipulators.
- Champion Competence Over Charisma: In a world where rage-farming media personalities and political provocateurs dominate attention through calculated provocation, dare to be boring. Champion leaders who listen more than they speak, who ask better questions rather than providing simple answers, who build bridges rather than walls. Support policies that are practical, evidence-based, and aimed at broad consensus.
- Use Your Vote as Your Voice: Remember the power that compulsory voting gives you. You are the mainstream. Your vote is a message to political parties that the path to victory is through the centre, by appealing to our shared hopes rather than the manufactured fears promoted by divisive media and political extremists. Vote for leaders who demonstrate emotional intelligence and ethical courage, and who can take responsibility when their rhetoric contributes to harmful outcomes.
- Practice Grounded Leadership: In your own spheres of influence, model the pause between stimulus and response. When extremist voices or divisive media try to provoke an immediate reaction through calculated manipulation, take a breath. Ask better questions. Listen with genuine curiosity. Challenge ideas, not people. Create space for different perspectives while holding firm to shared values of respect and dignity.
- Guard Your Mental Space: Remember that your attention and emotional energy are precious resources that skilled manipulators want to exploit. The Kirk tragedy reminds us that when we let calculated provocateurs from extremist movements and rage-farming media dominate our thinking, people get hurt. When we allow ourselves to be manipulated into dehumanising opponents, when we accept the apocalyptic language promoted by political provocateurs, when we let them convince us to treat politics as war rather than democracy, real families lose loved ones. The noise generated by these divisive forces isn’t just annoying; it’s deliberately designed to be dangerous.
Every time you pause, breathe, and choose a thoughtful response over the immediate reaction demanded by skilled manipulators, you’re strengthening the centre majority. You’re building immunity against calculated exploitation. You’re creating space for the kind of human-centred leadership our world desperately needs.
The Future Belongs to the Builders
The Kirk assassination reveals a stark choice: we can let manipulative voices paralyse us with manufactured outrage, or we can focus on the real work of building better systems.
The tragedy shows how movements that embrace calculated manipulation ultimately consume themselves. But it also reveals our path forward. In Australia, we have the democratic structures and cultural wisdom to resist divisive algorithms and extremist provocateurs. We can choose the harder but more rewarding work of building bridges instead of walls, solving problems instead of scoring points.
Every solution begins with a conversation.
Not the performative arguments designed to generate clicks, but the patient, thoughtful conversations between people who’ve learned to pause, breathe, and respond rather than react. People who are careful about who they let near their minds.
The future belongs to the builders: those who pause before reacting, who choose their influences carefully, who respond with evidence and empathy rather than emotion and assumption.
Watch who you let near your mind. Pause. Breathe. Examine the evidence. Then respond accordingly, with reason and calm, even when you feel like screaming into the abyss of despair.
The brave are already building better systems.
You know what to do.
Onward we press
This article was originally published on Sue Barrett
Dear reader, we need your support
Independent sites such as The AIMN provide a platform for public interest journalists. From its humble beginning in January 2013, The AIMN has grown into one of the most trusted and popular independent media organisations.
One of the reasons we have succeeded has been due to the support we receive from our readers through their financial contributions.
With increasing costs to maintain The AIMN, we need this continued support.
Your donation – large or small – to help with the running costs of this site will be greatly appreciated.
You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969
Be the first to comment