There is something that has been sitting heavy in me this week.
The cruelty.
The way people talk about each other.
The ease with which we write whole groups of humans off.
The smugness. The dehumanizing. The cheering when someone “loses.”
And I keep thinking…
When did we decide this was normal?
Because what I’m seeing isn’t just disagreement.
It’s division being fed.
Left.
Right.
Red.
Blue.
As if those labels are the deepest truth about who we are.
It feels manufactured.
It feels amplified.
It feels like we’re being separated for narrative’s sake — because a divided population is easier to steer than a united one.
And here’s what won’t leave me alone:
Do we actually want such different things?
Or have we just been told we do?
Strip everything down — the headlines, the pundits, the social media outrage — and what do most people want?
To feel safe.
To afford their life.
To not be one emergency away from collapse.
To raise their kids in stability.
To feel seen.
To feel like they matter.
That’s not extreme.
That’s human.
But when we stay in outrage mode, we never get to that layer.
We stay reactive.
We stay suspicious.
We stay angry at each other.
And we don’t ask who benefits from that.
There’s something else I keep thinking about.
We’ve been here before.
History is full of moments where fear was weaponized.
Where people were divided.
Where neighbors turned on neighbors because a narrative told them they were supposed to.
And every time we look back, we ask:
How did they let it get that far?
But maybe the better question is…
Are we learning from it?
Because cycles repeat when we don’t recognize them.
And what has helped societies move forward before wasn’t louder hatred.
It was people finding shared ground.
It was conversation.
It was refusing to see each other as monsters.
I say that knowing this:
This week, I had a heated discussion with a small group of conservatives I actually know. And like.
We disagreed. Strongly.
Voices got louder.
But here’s what struck me afterward —
They aren’t evil.
They want justice.
They want fairness.
They want safety for their families.
So do I.
We disagree on how to get there.
And that matters.
But it doesn’t erase our shared humanity.
Underneath it all, the desires overlap more than we admit.
And maybe that’s the piece we’re afraid to say out loud.
Because it’s easier to believe the other side is heartless than to admit we share common human needs.
What if the most radical thing right now isn’t picking a louder side —
but refusing to hate the other one?
What if the real rebellion is staying human?
What if we’ve been told we’re enemies… when really we’re neighbors trying to survive the same system?
I don’t want cruelty to become normal.
And I don’t think you do either.
So I’ll ask you this:
When you step away from the noise — what do you actually want?
And is it really so different from the person you’ve been told is your opponent?
I’m not interested in division for division’s sake.
I’m interested in clarity.
And clarity starts when we refuse to dehumanize each other.
We are not enemies.
We are people.
And I’m not letting anyone turn me against my own humanity.
If you stepped away from the noise, what would feel true to you?
Write back and tell me your answer — or share your experience with division.
While I can’t reply to everyone, I do read every response and genuinely love hearing from you.
Your story might even be featured in an upcoming letter.
That’s all for this week.
See you on the flip side.
~ Michele O’Donnell