I know this sounds pretentious (which is quite ironic), but this is something I’ve noticed about the internet. You never read about what someone does, only what they say. You hear politicians claim that they’ll fix the economy, or celebrities make speeches about what they feel like, or what “message” a fictional movie has being discussed over and over, but none of that matters, because it’s all saying and no doing!
If you have actions and words, then you should judge them based on actions because that is what they did and not what they said. The actions are more important than the words. If they promote peace and love, but spend their evenings violently attacking children, then their actions speak louder than words.
If all you have is words, then you work with what you have. At that point you are responding more to the message they are expressing, not necessarily to them as an individual.
And the reason things are so bleak is because most people only have words to go off of, rather than actions.