When people are frustrated and angry, many gravitate to politicians who say what they want to hear. I see this a lot on social media, the claims of, “I’ll support her/him because they’re saying what I want to hear.” It’s a fool’s game.
Grievance politicians are those who build their appeal by amplifying anger, fear, or resentment, not delivering robust policies and plans to address the source of the frustration and anger. They are often untested as actual leaders and rarely possess the skills, competency and nuances to be effective leaders of a country.
They appeal to those followers who feel wronged. People who feel unheard, marginalised, or frustrated by the system. However, all the grievance politician does is cause polarisation; their messaging only exacerbates divisions.
Supporters may be passionate, but they are volatile; loyalty is often tied to emotion rather than shared vision. And we see a graphic example of that every election by the number of ‘grievance’ voters who preference the party that is the complete opposite of what the voter claims to be.
But the grievance politician, more so than most, craves media attention. Outrage-driven messages get clicks, shares, and coverage. And we see that on social media.
In politics, saying what people want to hear is often the path of least resistance because it doesn’t require action, risk, or nuance. It plays to short-term popularity rather than long-term leadership.
Easy: “I hear you, I’ll do what you want.” ✅ Popular, low effort.
Contrast that with actually doing what’s right, which can be unpopular, complicated, or misunderstood—true leadership often involves taking positions people don’t initially want to hear.
Hard: “Here’s what we need to do, even if it’s tough.” ⚠️ Requires courage, foresight, and accountability.
It’s the classic tension in politics: popularity vs. principle.
I hear similar claims of people who state they won’t support a politician because they don’t shout enough or speak with enough passion about a favoured topic.
But passion isn’t a scream—it’s the courage to act when it counts. And effective leadership isn’t based on how loud you are because leaders don’t need to yell—they need to deliver.
“Yelling convinces unthinking ears. Action convinces intelligent people.”
