Do you agree that we’re living in the Age of Rage?

[sunsetsandsunrise]

Read this in an article the other day: ‘Anger has come to define the public mood’.

The full article in case anyone wants to know the source:

www.theguardian.com/society/2024/sep/15/all-the-rage-why-anger-drives-the-world-josh-cohen

no

family, friends, colleagues… we all seem to tick along quite happily and without the drama i see on mumsnet 🤷

No. It's just that anger (for effect, I suspect) crops up frequently on social media and so allows lazy journalists (looking at you Guardian and D Mail) to produce copy.

I don't think that, in real life, people are any more angry than they have been at any other time in my life.

do you agree op?

No, the world is much safer than it was 50 years ago IMO

No

I see it on the roads. People are so impatient, and aggressive. I think it's getting worse.

35 years in a public facing role.
Yes, people are more angry and impatient these days, with a huge sense of entitlement. Not everyone, obviously, but certainly far more people and you have to deal with them far more frequently. I also agree with PP about seeing it more on the roads too.

Maybe. But calling it an age of rage feels like it’s putting the blame on the angry people. Whereas I prefer to say that people are increasingly frustrated by everything being a little bit worse. And perhaps after a string of small frustrations chipping away at our self-control, some people can spill over into anger. Something relatively innocuous can be the straw that breaks the camels back. Also when we feel frustrated, we can see more frustrated people about. A bit like when you’re pregnant and see pregnant people everywhere - it’s a lens.

People have always been angry. The difference is; losing your rag was frowned upon, particularly if you were a woman,and the community in which you lived would judge you. With fragmentation of community living, and inappropriate messages bombarding moral standards, it's allowing the more unpleasant side of human nature to rear its ugly head. If we had no laws I can assure you, society would disintegrate very, very quickly...

I mean I certainly see it on MN and SM but whether that translates to ‘out there’ is a different story. Also the recent riots but rioting is not a new phenomenon. I don’t really know tbh, it made me wonder about it.

@veritasverity

"People have always been angry. The difference is; losing your rag was frowned upon, particularly if you were a woman,and the community in which you lived would judge you"

I agree that people have always been angry. I would add a further difference in that previously if you lost your rag or became verbally aggressive then you ran the risk of someone physically retaliating against you. So for self preservation it made sense to stay calm.

The introduction of online chat or messages or nasty chat groups enabled people to be verbally abusive without the risk of physical retaliation.

Occasionally it goes a bit wrong when those that are used to being aggressive online, forget and then try it in the real world to someone that is willing to physically retaliate with predictable results.