2025: Diagnosing "Belligerentism"

Belligerent (adjective); hostile and aggressive, and their forms.

Belligerentism (yes, we made that up) was our most consistent takeaway from 2025, not a single event, not a single political squabble, not which Minister did or didn't do whatever. But an attitude. A habit. A reflex that has become so casual it now passes for personality, and in public life, it passes for civic engagement. The Peoples' Tribune is only 14 months old, but in our first full year, if there is one pattern that kept repeating itself across stories, interviews, comment sections, and casual debates, it is belligerence culture, the urge to meet everything with heat, to treat questioning as an attack, to treat information as a threat, and to treat the loudest voice as the most legitimate one.

The problem is not that people disagree. Disagreement is healthy. The problem is the speed at which disagreement turns into hostility. Social media helps that transformation along, because it rewards belligerentism. Outrage gets "likes". The cute political jab travels faster than the proper explanation. The meme outruns the message. The performance outshines the process. In that environment, being belligerent is efficient. Quick to produce, easy to consume. “Let’s understand” becomes “Pick a side.”

Ironically enough, in 2025, the discourse in Parliament itself, in large part, looked improved. And though belligerent behvaiour found its way in the house of Parliament, that is not where belligerentism dominated. It showed up outside the halls, with selective and convenient narratives, and in the way some political figures communicate to the public when they are no longer bound by the structure of debate and the necessity to answer.

Belligerence culture thrives when the goal is not to inform but to keep the audience dependent. When a leader reinforces untruths, or withholds information that could educate the public, it is not merely bad communication, it is manipulation all dressed up pretty. That is belligerence culture in its most strategic form. To let people wallow in avoidable ignorance, because a public that knows better becomes harder to manage and a crowd arguing with itself is easier to lead than a community that is organized around facts.

Belligerence culture is also prevalent in the public itself, and that is the harder diagnosis because it means the problem is not just “them,” it is “us.” In 2025, belligerentism became so widely accepted that intelligentism struggled to breathe. As a result, there is less space to ask a real question without being branded. Less space to say “I’m not sure” without being mocked. Less space to examine a claim without being accused of "being bought" or "controlled". Belligerence culture turns the ability to think into a suspicious activity. The result is a climate where people do not defend their positions with evidence, they defend them with noise, and belligerence culture becomes the default setting for public discourse.

A belligerent public is ripe for manipulation because belligerence feels like action. It feels satisfying, like civic duty has been performed, like a cause has been served. But it is often just emotion masquerading as contribution. It also lowers the public’s resistance to misinformation because being belligerent does not require proof, it requires only a target. And boy, do we love our targets.

So, what causes this? Exhaustion plays a role. People are tired, financially stressed, time-poor, and increasingly skeptical that the layers of government and/or Parliament will respond to their needs. Belligerence becomes a release valve. But if belligerentism was 2025’s defining attitude, then, in our opinion, 2026 has a simple choice, not an easy one, but a clear one. We can keep rewarding belligerence. Keep confusing heat for leadership. Keep confusing shouting for service. Keep confusing cynicism for wisdom. Or we can build a different public culture, one where intelligentism is not treated like an elitist hobby, but like a necessary civic skill. Thinking for oneself should not feel rebellious, but in a belligerent culture, sometimes it does.

So to do better, treat "thinking" like a small rebellion anyway. Ask one more question before sharing. Demand one more fact before defending. Read beyond the headline. Challenge leaders who trade in half-truths, not only because they mislead, but because they are stealing the public’s chance to mature. Refuse belligerence by proxy, refuse to be someone’s mouthpiece in an argument designed to keep you uninformed. Support media that explains, not just reacts. Support leaders who clarify, even when clarity is unpopular.

Belligerentism is easy. Cheap. Fast. Intelligentism takes effort, and it can feel lonely in a noisy space. But a society that cannot make space for thoughtful disagreement becomes a society that cannot govern itself well. Better outcomes require better habits. In 2025, belligerentism did not make us stronger. It made us louder. The question for 2026 is whether we want to keep sounding off, or finally start building up.

Cheers to a hopeful start. Happy New Year!

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