Before you react to this, before you decide whether you agree or disagree with me, I want you to understand what’s happening to you right now, psychologically. Research shows that the conformist instinct in your brain happens automatically. You’re literally unaware of it. You think your political beliefs accurately reflect reality, but they’re actually being shaped by peer-instinct processing. Both sides. Yes, really.
Social media is broken. All media is broken, just in different ways. And right now, Alex Pretti’s death is being used as a weapon to divide us further – which keeps us from solving actual problems and pushes us closer to the authoritarianism we all claim to fear.
If your information ecosystem – left or right – reacts in anger and blames the other side no matter what happens, you’re part of the problem. I don’t care which side you’re on.
Here’s what actually happened in Minneapolis:
Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was shot 10 times in the back by Border Patrol agents while pinned face-down on the ground. Video shows him holding only a phone before being tackled. He had a legally permitted firearm in a holster that he never drew. The government’s own internal review contradicts their initial narrative that he was “attacking” officers or “brandishing” a weapon. Even some Republicans are calling for investigation.
Now watch what happens. Some people think these federal agents were justified. Others think this was murder. And your reaction probably depends almost entirely on which news sources you trust and which political tribe you belong to.
Both sides are being manipulated.
The right has been conditioned for decades to see federal overreach as the enemy – except when it’s their team doing it. The left has been conditioned to see police violence as systemic – except when it complicates their narrative. Both reactions are automatic. Both prevent clear thinking.
Research proves that liberals and conservatives show similar levels of partisan bias. The tactics and intensity differ, but the vulnerability to tribal thinking is universal. Your brain wants to feel conviction about “our beliefs” – it treats your political positions like sacred objects. When someone challenges them, it feels like a physical threat. So your brain seeks information that confirms what you already believe and rejects everything else.
That’s not how you find truth. But it’s how humans work.
Try this thought experiment:
Answer these questions honestly:
- Should federal agents be allowed to wear masks while operating domestically?
- Should federal agents in plain clothes be able to detain people and transport them in unmarked vehicles?
- Should federal agents operate in states and cities without local coordination or oversight?
- Should someone be shot for legally carrying a holstered firearm they never drew?
- Should protesters have the right to protest federal operations?
- Do police have the right to shoot someone who is breaking through barriers while ignoring commands during a violent attack?
These aren’t rhetorical questions. They’re about fundamental government power and accountability.
If you think masked federal agents in unmarked vehicles are fine when they’re going after people you don’t like, but tyrannical when they’re going after people you agree with – that’s the trap.
If you think federal agents should never operate without local coordination unless it’s to protect something you care about – that’s also the trap.
Now here’s where it gets really uncomfortable:
Kyle Rittenhouse traveled to Kenosha with an AR-15 during protests in 2020. He openly carried that rifle, shot and killed two people, and was acquitted on self-defense grounds.
Alex Pretti had a legally permitted handgun in a holster. He never drew it. He was shot 10 times in the back while pinned face-down on the ground by federal agents.
Ashli Babbitt was shot by Capitol Police while breaking through a window during a violent attack on Congress. Over 140 police officers were injured that day. Over 1,500 people were convicted of crimes and then pardoned.
Here’s the right-wing hypocrisy:
If you think Kyle Rittenhouse was a hero for showing up armed to protests, but Alex Pretti deserved to be shot for having a holstered gun he never drew – that’s hypocrisy.
If you think Ashli Babbitt was a patriot wrongly murdered by government agents, but Alex Pretti was a terrorist who got what he deserved – that’s hypocrisy.
If you spent years warning about federal overreach and government tyranny, but you support masked federal agents in unmarked vehicles operating without local coordination when they’re targeting people you don’t like – that’s hypocrisy.
Here’s the left-wing hypocrisy:
If you’re outraged about deportations under Trump but were relatively quiet when Biden deported 271,000 people in 2024 – the highest in a decade, surpassing Trump’s peak – examine that.
Trump is using theatrics deliberately. The masked agents, the unmarked vehicles, the confrontations, the blocking local police from crime scenes – that’s all performance designed to rile up his base. It’s designed to be loud and visible and cruel-looking.
Biden and Obama tried to do it quietly and professionally. Same deportations, less spectacle. Obama was literally called “deporter in chief.”
If you only get outraged when deportations are theatrical but accept them when they’re done quietly and out of sight, you’re not actually opposed to deportations – you’re opposed to the performance. That means you’re okay with mass deportations as long as they’re done politely where you don’t have to see them.
If you truly believe deportations are wrong, you should have been just as loud when Biden hit record numbers. But most people on the left weren’t, because he did it without the cruelty theater.
These aren’t equivalent. The tactics ARE different. Masked agents blocking local police is different from coordinating with them. Systematic family separation is different from targeted enforcement. The scale and cruelty of the performance matters.
But if you only notice government abuse of power when it’s the other team doing it, or when it’s done loudly instead of quietly, you’re still being manipulated.
What actually works:
This isn’t my opinion. Psychologists who study partisan division have found specific techniques that help:
- Acknowledge your own bias first. Every time you react to political content, pause and ask: “Am I reacting to what actually happened, or am I reacting to defend my team?”
- Listen before you speak. When talking to someone who disagrees with you, repeat back what they said to show you heard them. Then respond. Research shows this actually reduces hostility.
- Understand what they value, not just what they believe. People prioritize different moral foundations – care, fairness, loyalty, authority, sanctity. Understanding why someone cares about something helps you communicate, even if you disagree.
- Don’t try to change minds. Your goal is understanding, not winning. People almost never change their minds during arguments. They change them later, in private, when they feel safe to reconsider.
- Separate the person from the position. Make it clear you’re not attacking their character or intelligence. You can disagree about policy while respecting the person.
The people in power want you angry at each other.
They want you focused on culture war battles instead of questioning why healthcare costs keep rising, why wages have stagnated for 40 years, why your kids’ schools are underfunded, why infrastructure is crumbling.
The division is the point. It keeps you from organizing around shared interests. It keeps them in power.
This is how democracies collapse – not because one side wins, but because we become so divided we can’t function. We can’t agree on basic facts. We can’t work together to solve problems. We see our fellow citizens as enemies instead of neighbors.
You don’t have to argue.
You don’t have to convince anyone. You don’t have to prove you’re right.
You can have empathy for people who have been conditioned to react with anger – just like you have. You can recognize that the psychological manipulation is real, it’s powerful, and it’s affecting everyone, including you.
The people arguing right now don’t fully understand why they’re so angry. The triggers are automatic. Instead of fighting them, try approaching factually. Try recognizing they’re responding to real manipulation, just like you are.
Try remembering they’re human beings who want safety and justice and a decent life, just like you do. They just have different ideas about how to get there.
This is hard. It’s much easier to feel righteous anger. But righteous anger is exactly what the manipulators want from you.
Try something different.
Even that's Odd 
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