I shared this thread on Twitter this morning:
I wrote a blog post yesterday that was surprisingly popular. Based on observation of behaviour witnessed during a walk on 2 January, I asked a simple question, which is why have baby boomers, most especially, been bought into political compliance by the Tories? A thread…
Taking the risk of projecting generalisations onto a crowd, I wondered why so many people baby boomers have been lulled into complacency by their apparent material well-being when the truth is that they should be very angry about all that is happening around them.
These, after all, are the people who are already at greatest risk from the Tory negligence in the NHS. It is their grandchildren who face a catastrophic future because of climate change. And their children are facing crises because of Tory imposed Brexit and austerity.
Older people have every reason to be angry. If, as many of them seem to think, family is the most important thing in their lives (after cruises, 4x4s, and cash in the bank, maybe) then even if the old are comfortable their families are suffering, badly. And yet most aren't angry.
Is it that because material well-bing has bought their anger off? Or is it that they, deep down, think they are where they are today entirely due to their own hard work, and younger people are just whinging if they can't do the same?
Could it also be that they were just brought up with a sense of entitlement? Most of them probably think ‘they won the war', even if they very obviously did not. As a result they think they are owed their comfort.
Or might it be something else altogether, which is an idea that they have embraced, which is that it is rude to complain, whilst anger is always unacceptable?
Complaining is actually commonplace. But anger is quite different. We're now taught to manage anger. As a result a natural human emotion, necessary to our survival, is now treated as unacceptable, why-ever it arises. Polite people don't do get angry, is the idea.
Don't get me wrong. A lot of anger is unacceptable. When anger is inappropriately directed at individuals, or when violence is threatened, or when intimidation is the aim, of course anger needs to be managed.
But, for the record, some appropriate anger will have to be aimed at people, because it is people who facilitate anger inducing injustice: it doesn't happen by chance. But, and I stress it, the anger must be constructive, and it must target the injustice and not the facilitator.
It's my belief that we need more of this type of constructive, focused anger. In the face of the so many varied injustices that we now face, why ever not? 2023 is going to be a year of deliberately imposed misery for many.
The recession we're having, the job losses, the business failures, the households in distress, the children made homeless, the hungry, the cold and the unnecessarily dying, are all the result of choices made by those facilitating oppression to supposedly beat inflation.
Ignore the fact that none of these policies will beat inflation. Instead ask, what is better? Is this misery better than a little more inflation, as those proposing these outcomes suggest? Or is their approach, intended as it is to preserve the wealth of a few, just callous?
And in the face of such callousness why should people be told to manage their anger, as ‘society' requires of them? Is that reasonable, or is it that in reality ‘society' has rigged the world against most people and is now even denying them the right to be angry about that fact?
I think people are being exploited and abused by the economic policies of the Tories and the Bank of England, to both of which Labour appears to offer tacit support. There is a conspiracy of oppression in politics as a result. And people should be very angry about it.
Some have had enough. Medics, nurses, rail workers and many others are making it clear they have had enough of being exploited. They seem to have public support for their strikes. I am not surprised. These groups are expressing public anger at broader injustice.
But is that enough? Can we get away with others doing anger for us? Or should we very much more angry ourselves? Not (need I say it?) with the GP receptionist, but with the government who made their job impossible. Why not?
Right now we are facing gross injustice that others have chosen for us. We have the absolute right to be angry about that. Just don't take it out on those not to blame, including all those on strike at this moment.
Instead, blame those in Westminster, and ask what would a better politics for people look like? And then use your anger to demand it. A better world is possible if there are enough groups of angry people demanding it. It's time to be angry, Change depends on it.
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Indeed.
So much to be angry about – housing, child-care, health-care
Let’s have a heated debate
🙂
Richard, you are one of the few commentators who start with facts, move on to analyse them, and then form conclusions. How old-fashioned.
Modern commentators start with their ‘analysis’, which is in reality opinion or prejudice, move on to find some examples which will back it up, and make up for a lack of facts with flannel or outright lies.
So when you come up with an observational or opinion piece, it carries the weight of numerous academically credible predecessors.
Keep up the good work – especially the factual pieces…
Thanks
I get angry sometimes at the state the world is in, but I find often there’s no place to direct it. I think the danger with anger is that it can quickly and very easily become unmanageable if there is no proper outlet for it.
I can write blog posts or social media messages, but if it is simply angry all that really does it make online discourse more toxic. Recently I wrote to my local MSP about an issue recently and got a stock reply from a case worker saying they’re aware of the issue and that many others have contacted them about it – my name being added to an issue is only going to count for +1 regardless of how angry I am. As you point out I cannot direct anger at specific individuals because it’s likely not their fault. I can’t expose my anger in front of friends and family because, if we’re talking government, I imagine most of them agree with whatever I’m angry with, so there’s no sense getting riled up because I’m not going to change anyone’s mind in a constructive way.
At the risk of turning this comment section into a therapy session, if I get angry knowing my anger isn’t going to achieve anything I find it leads to general frustration which builds up and impacts my mental health. I suppose everyone has different ways of coping with anger. It is a very difficult challenge to know the best way to balance venting for your own wellbeing, and to effect the change that you want.
I feel like we need The Angry Party in politics now
Why isn’t there more input from psychiatrists and mental health specialists decrying the charlatans at Westminster and Holyrood.
To me, it is obvious that we are being governed by narcissists and psychopaths agog to thrust the latest teachings from the good ole USA via social media upon brains that already full with previous washings, yet there’s barely a murmour from a professional body that should be pointing the above out.
I remember asking just such a question to a friend of a friend, to be met with the response “Sorry I don’t do politics”.
I went to visit my mum in her nursing home last week – I can’t this week because the home is in lockdown following a triple whammy – outbreaks of covid, flu and strep A infections. Infections brought in either by agency staff desperate not to miss a shift or more than likely from relative/s lulled into a false sense of security – Anyway I knew she used to be especially fond of Heartbeat, the old police drama and I had found out that it was being repeated on ITV3. So we started to watch the programme only to discover that the episode was interrupted every 5 minutes or so by adverts for funeral plans, funerals, charities, accident lawyers etc etc. It was like the Chinese Water Torture. Drip, drip, drip. (and now with perfect timing, BBC Scotland introduces Mayflies a series revolving around terminal illness. Someone should point out, rather forcefully, that subliminal advertising is still illegal in the UK.
Again, as the Psychiatrists and Psychologists should be pointing out, one of the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is the tendency towards poor decisions.
All I would say is that there is anger but it is misdirected particularly by the practice of Fascism that abuses cultural identities.
Part of the challenge has to be the reorientation of anger – to encourage people to literally ‘look up’ and not at the people they share their immediate space with.
Consider this famous quote from the film Mississippi Burning which resonates with me and explains what I’m getting at (it is quoted verbatim and spoken by Gene Hackman’s character and I mean no offence):
“You know, when I was a little boy, there was an old Negro farmer lived down the road from us, name of Monroe. And he was, uh, – well, I guess he was just a little luckier than my Daddy was. He bought himself a mule. That was a big deal around that town. Now, my Daddy hated that mule, ’cause his friends were always kiddin’ him about oh, they saw Monroe out plowin’ with his new mule, and Monroe was gonna rent another field now they had a mule. And one morning that mule just showed up dead. They poisoned the water. And after that there was never any mention about that mule around my Daddy. It just never came up. So one time, we were drivin’ down the road and we passed Monroe’s place and we saw it was empty. He’d just packed up and left, I guess. Gone up North, or somethin’. I looked over at my Daddy’s face – and I knew he’d done it. And he saw that I knew. He was ashamed. I guess he was ashamed. He looked at me and he said: ‘If you ain’t better than a n****r, son, who are you better than?’…He was an old man just so full of hate that he didn’t know that bein’ poor was what was killin’ him.”
Basically some of fall for crap like the NHS and our education system is faltering because of immigration or there being too many old people when in fact decisions have been made to strip out budgets that should meet need by politicians who should be made accountable instead.
That’s where the battle is – a lot of it anyway.
“We need more anger”.
Really? Unfortunately it cuts both ways. You suggest the old and comfortable are not angry. Here is how it works, at least in Scotland. They fund a Scottish Conservative Party that is led by people who are ideologically rigid, typically not very bright, but do a nice line in being permanently loud, bellicose, assertive-aggressive; and downright angry, about absolutely everything; except the Conservative Government, where they lead the apologists for the mayhem – as all actually representing the Wisdom of the Union in action. Meanwhile, the comfortable geriatrics who are still mobile, are off on a cruise; or a long spell in Florida or Tenerife, through the Scottish winter. Not a single net curtain need rustle; they are generally far more conservative or even reactionary than their own Party, but choose their priorities very carefully (their whole lives are lived behind a curtain).
Alternatively, I caught a little of a hysterically incoherent Daily Telegraph writer (I couldn’t even hear properly in the mayhem?) on BBC Radio 5 (Nicky Campbell), who had plainly left planet earth, but attempted to prove that her incandescent rage at face masks was epidemiologically sound, because it was based on – wait for it – the sciientific reasearch of the Cato Instititute. She shrieked and hollered her way through the protests of an epidemiologist she managed to make nearly as angry as herself, as she attempted to win the argument by shouting the loudest.
Really? We need anger? I prefer the peace and quiet of this Blog. I can do my own studies and switch here, without – I hope – losing the plot entirely; which is the fate of the angry. I am not an admirer of Cromwell, but you have to respect his capacities; his probably quite unique tota, ruthless, unchallengeable command of Britain. His principle advice on critical priorites? Keep your powder dry. You cannot do that when you are angry.
The epidemiologist was my friend Deepti Gurdasami – a great woman
My view is that we need a mix – different flavours of anger.
Every movement needs a mix of expression of anger. It needs it cool heads for when the time to negotiate comes or intellectually underpin our outrage and to lead us to something better. We need louder voices and those who demonstrate to kick up a fuss in the first place to let ignorant pig heads know that they’ve gone too far.
John Warren looks to me as he does the controlled version – scalpel like and keenly aimed.
Others like me wail and gnash our teeth.
To me it’s all good, all valid. We just need more of it directed in the right direction.
Anger is an energy as John Lydon once sang. Lets release it in a way we are comfortable with and appreciate the effort of others either way.
Agreed
I’ve watched her lots of times and never seen her get angry. This is her accusing the government of manslaughter over covid. She talks about long covid, too.
https://youtu.be/_MmH8ABPAIw?t=586
Because we are tired, oh so tired! A lifetime of protesting against nuclear war, tory policies, racism, sexism, time spent on marches, rallies, as a Union rep and chair of the branch, speaking out (and being blocked from promotion because of it) and I no longer have the energy to be angry when very little seems to change. In order to retain some sanity in my retirement I look for pleasure in the small things and volunteer on nature reserves to try and make a difference.
No problem with that
Working to create the change you want is part of seeking that change
So much to be angry about, and that’s why the government and vile press in this country do anything possible to direct the anger of large crowds on immigrants, the EU etc.
I know how LonM feels. I am one of the baby boomers (age 59), and purely as a result of inheritance from my now deceased parents, financially very comfortable. Which does not translate into being emotionally comfortable, or feeling at peace with myself or the world we’re in now.
I’m in fact angry/anxious a lot of the time, but how to direct this and see it having a positive effect rather than me just being bad tempered (ask my partner!) and anxious is a very good point. I know a few people in my social walking group who tell me (probably to stop me from ranting on..) that they no longer watch or listen to the news, they just try to get on with their lives, a lot of which centres around the aforesaid walking/cycling group and numerous trips in the UK and Europe. As most of them are very much NOT tory voting 4×4 driving over-affluent types who buy expensive phones and cameras etc that they don’t need, I don’t blame them one bit for this. They are nice, non materialistic people many of whom have worked for years as nurses, civil servants etc and are now retired and want to enjoy what time they’ve gotl eft.
And I sometimes think I should do the same, for my own peace of mind.
I’ve signed numerous online petitions, I donate regularly to organisations like Avaaz, 38 Degrees, Compass, at least one pro EU group, I’ve emailed my local tory MP god knows how many times and I’m moderately active in my trade union, so you could call me politically active/aware I suppose.
But I do wonder if there’s any point a lot of the time. Just sticking to the UK, how do we end up with these loathsome creatures in this ‘government’ being in charge for 12 years? Why do we still have the grotesque FPTP voting system, which has effectively disenfranchised me? The HoL, full of political cronies and party donors, who can sit on their backsides and get over £300 per day just for turning up, while ordinary people can’t afford to eat properly or heat their homes? Brexit, a load of delusional twaddle brought about by liars?
You get the picture.
I do
I wish there was a break through political movement
I have to make a confession. I have never gone on marches and protests, even as an undergraduate. I never fully understood why, save that large, chanting crowds have no appeal for me (I have never, ever attended a rock concert or gig either, and I care little for rock music – which has just turned off every single reader, no doubt); until I realised the real reason why, only recently. I long ago assumed that for every three innocent, eager protesters actually there (probably including the organisers – but not necessarily!); there would no doubt be two trolls, one attention seeker, and three agent provocateurs.
I think you’re being a touch too cynical there John
“I think you’re being a touch too cynical there John”.
And yet, here we are. I have read most of the comments on this thread. They remind me, curiously of what happens in the kind of world created by one of the master creators of iron rule in a national crisis; by means of deception, disinformation, false flags, manipulation, patronage, repression, secret intelligence (on everyone), temptation and seduction, that Britain ever produced; probably the most powerful Home Secretary (and just about everything else, save PM); a master political tactician, until he was brought down … in a scandal.
Henry Dundas (1742-1811). He would thrive in 2023, especially to see what can be done in the 21st century, digital communication age; even with a political vehicle as unprepossessing as the shallow collection of ciphers, self-servers and rote ideologists that make up the current Parliamentary Conservative Party, and Cabinet.
Just think how much worse it would be if you hadn’t signed all those petitions, gone on those demos, etc. I’ve read today that XR are going to stop gluing themselves to tarmac and walls, but are going to have one heck of a demo in April.
Just think how much more of a target we would be if women had not camped outside Greenham Common in the 80s and just said nothing to do with them.
We can’t all be physically there but we can help as much as we can for our children and grandchildren to join those demos. We have to make as many people as possible become aware of what is happening. It makes us angry, as does having no real opposition any more. But if we don’t vote to get rid of our tory MPs it’s our own faults if we get more of the same.
My grandson is coming over now and will join me for lunch with weownit. If there are petitions to sign or plans to make he will sign them along with me and pass them onto his friends on Facebook.
If the tories are allowed to do what they want with the NHS, there will not have been a single generation going through the NHS from cradle to grave in my family.
Well said
I wholeheartedly agree with your basic argument that there is much to be angry about and that this can motivate us to respond; the frustration I often feel, is because of the difficulty of doing anything effective about it. I wrote ‘the way of the world’ below and posted it on my Facebook page (ok – I never thought it that would be particularly effective) and got 3 likes. A small child or dog (or even a short tailed owl) would have got many, many more likes.
And of course, if it had got lots of likes, there is always the likelihood that I/we are only speaking to our own particular bubble!
But thanks for your post Richard.
The way of the world
If you drop litter, you can be prosecuted,
If you create litter you can make a profit.
If you harm private property, you can go to prison,
If you pollute public space, you get tax breaks.
If you don’t pay the workers, you can pay the bosses,
Grant big dividends, and donate to the Tories.
If prices go up, the poor starve,
But the footsie grows and the rich get richer.
If you mine for gas, you get a bung,
If you protest that’s wrong, that’s against the law,
We all might die, but profits first!
Thanks
We need more anger but we also need more courage. As Augustine of Hippo said:
“Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.”
He was right
Millicent Garrett Fawcett had her purse stolen and reported it to the local police station. The Sergeant wrote ‘stolen, one purse, contents eight and fourpence. Property of Mr Henry Fawcett.’
She said, ‘No Sergeant. it is not my husband’s purse. It is mine.’
‘Madam,’ he replied , ‘in law your property belongs to your husband.’
I then read she started or joined the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies and became a Suffragist. They were distinguished from the Suffragettes of the WSPU because the NUWSS avoided violence. They tend to be forgotten today in the popular memory of history but there is still a Fawcett society who campaign for gender equality. And she now has a statue in Parliament Square.
I always thought of this as a great example of directed anger. I think it is but, doing a check that I am not writing nonsense, I found out her sister was Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, the first female British doctor.
Their friend was Emily Davies, who became Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge, and an advocate of University education for women.
Millicent’s daughter, Philippa, was the first woman to obtain top score in the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos exams. Amazing women. Driven by a desire for justice and anger at injustice.
I’m a baby boomer and I’m f…ing incandescent with rage over the mess the Tories, with help from Labour have got the country into. The list of, as I see it, failures is ever growing and feel despondent about anything changing. Spent my working life in public sector (education) wanting to change the world. I’m angry boomers get blamed for the mess, of course though that’s divide and rule in action, let’s blame the oldies who are all smugly wealthy to distract from inequality in all generations.
PS never been on a cruise, never will; not rich – income or wealth; don’t nor ever will have a 4×4; never have nor ever will vote Tory.