“The cruelty is the point" was coined by Adam Serwer, a staff writer for The Atlantic Magazine, in his October 2018 essay of the same name. It became a widely used catchphrase to describe the Trump administration's political approach and policies. 

Defunding food programs for the poor, withholding pay from government employees, especially the ones the president doesn’t like, and limiting asylum to a few thousand people a year is cruel. There is a delight this administration takes in punishing its “enemies” as well as the poor and dispossessed. Sociologist Robert Bellah encouraged us to dig deep into shared cultural values beyond the self to create a moral society with a shared set of values. This is what he called a civic religion. Right now, however, it seems we are driven by capitalism and competition rather than collaboration. It is difficult for an individualistic society to make a shift toward collectivism. Still, I think a second music is playing, “one below the other…lower, steady, perhaps more faithful for being less heard yet always present” (Annie Lighthart). Let’s tune into it and beat our drums to the sounds of freedom and compassion.

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1. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/the-cruelty-is-the-point/572104/

2. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/30/trump-refugee-restrictions-white-south-africans

3. https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/28/texas-snap-food-stamps-federal-shutdown-explained-2/