Why is there so much anger nowadays

There are massive, possibly unprecedented levels of anger around in the present age – and we’re all affected and impacted by this, consciously and unconsciously.

Those who believe we’ve been duped in recent Covid years are angry. Those who believe that The Light newspaper is anti-semitic, racist and trans-phobic (claims that I completely reject) are angry. Those who believe that the anti-Light campaign has been generating hate-speech directed at the Stroud Info-Hug are angry (see Kevin Towell’s letter). Those who are in despair at the incompetence and corruption of our political representatives, and of the political system in general, are angry (see Steve Hynd’s letter). I could go on...

The question then becomes, how do we understand and reflect on this anger, and what do we do with it? One thing I think none of us should ever do is resort to violence. Demonstration and campaigning, yes. Civil disobedience, fine. Civil offences that damage material objects are subject to the law of the land, and will rightly be dealt with by the law. But resorting to violence against people (or animals), or to behaving in ways that encourage it, always means that we’ve necessarily already lost the argument.

So whatever our partisan differences might be, we do all share in common the challenge of dealing with our anger in as healthy and non-violent a way as possible. As soon as we resort to violence, we’ve not only lost the argument but we’ve relinquished any moral high ground we might have been inhabiting.

Perhaps learning to deal well with anger is one of the great challenges of our age – and rising to this challenge thoughtfully and responsibly can only contribute to creating the kind of kind, free, diverse and difference-respecting society that I assume the vast majority of us wish to see and contribute to.

Richard House

Stroud Info-Hug